A Secret Relationship
by Pca student
Summary: This takes place after the episode; Lady sings the news. Jimmy and Cindy decide to date and don't want anyone to know but a certain someone who is out to get Jimmy already knows and an old crush of Jimmy's has feelings for him now. Will Jimmy and Cindy be able to handle all the madness, drama and pressure or will they go back to being rivals?
1. Beginning of a secret relationship

Jimmy Neutron was sitting in his lab thinking about Cindy Vortex. It had already been a day since he had kissed her in that Alley. Why he kissed her? He had no idea why. He just felt like it; then it dawned on him; he liked her. He had liked her for a very long time now; Even way before they were stranded on that island. It's just that they had argued so much; he didn't know what to think.

For the past few weeks; they haven't been arguing as much as they used to. They even started hanging out together more, just the two of them. He didn't know how it happened; but it was weird. One time; it was the day before they did the school news; he and Cindy were studying together in the library. They were doing some book report. Cindy had tapped his foot and he tapped back. It was almost as if they were playing footsie or something.

Jimmy sighed. He just couldn't stop thinking about her for some weird reason. It was driving him crazy! Ever since he had kissed her; things felt different. Sure they held hands and smiled afterwards. He even offered to walk her home and she accepted. But could she really have feelings for him? Or did she just get caught in the moment?

"I just don't know what to do Goddard." He said banging on his key board. He was so distracted that he couldn't even focus on his new invention. Options appeared on Goddard's screen.

Option number one: _Invent super sticky gum._

"Been there, done that." Jimmy replied.

Option number two: _Tell Cindy how you feel about her._

Jimmy sighed. "It's not that easy. What's the last option?"

Option number three: _Build a giant robot._

"I guess I'll just go with option number two." Jimmy made up his mind. He was going to tell Cindy how he felt about her.

Cindy Vortex was in her room; sitting on the bed. She would either glance around or stare at the ceiling. For some reason she just couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. He had kissed her! And right on the lips. Even though it was for only one second; it felt special to her.

Of course no one knew about it. It was their little secret. She didn't even tell Libby about it yet. She began to ponder on whether she should tell her or not. Sure they were best friends and she felt like she could tell her everything. But after Libby had spilled about her and Jimmy playing footsie in the library; she just wasn't sure anymore. What if another live newscast became an option for her, Jimmy, Libby, Carl and Sheen? The same thing might happen again. Only Libby would reveal about their kiss! That was more than just playing footsie in the library. Kids would really tease her and Jimmy.

She did accept Libby's apology. Why else would they still be friends if she didn't? She just couldn't tell her things so soon after what happened. Cindy felt hurt, betrayed, embarrassed and mad the day after Libby had spilled. Her and Jimmy gave her the same 'you've got to be kidding me' look after she said she was sure no one knew who she was talking about. She had hoped Libby was right. But when her, Jimmy, Carl and Sheen entered the school building together; kids started saying stuff.

She knew that after Carl was teased; that she was going to be a laughing stock too. When Butch began to tease her and Jimmy; she felt her cheeks turn a bright red from embarrassment and the anger was boiling up inside her. She didn't have to take it from anyone; so she did a karate move and punched him hard to the ground. He wasn't the only one who teased her and Jimmy. A few kids from a far would say little remarks and a few who passed by.

She won't forget about how humiliated and upset she was because Libby had broke her promise. Should Cindy take that risk again? If she told Libby about the kiss and rumors spread; kids would really make fun of her and Jimmy. _'Libby's my best friend. She just got carried away.' _

Her thoughts were interrupted from someone ringing the door bell. She got up, went out on her balcony and saw none other than Jimmy Neutron! "What's he doing here?" She wondered.

She left the bedroom, trotted down stairs and answered the door. "Hello?"

"Cindy." He sighed.

"Neutron?" She asked surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I really need to tell you something. Do you have a minute?" He asked.

"A minute." She replied. "You better spill."

She looked him right in the eyes waiting for him to speak. His beautiful ocean blue eyes and as he stared right into her gorgeous emerald eyes; he felt himself relax. "It's about the kiss."

Her heart was beating. "Uh, what about it?" She asked nervously. "Did someone see us?"

No." He had to tell her. I really like you Cindy; a lot." He finally managed to say after a long while of silence.

She felt her heart melt. Was this it? Was he going to tell her that he loves her? Could they finally be together? So many questions were running through her mind.

"I think I might even have feelings for you and when we were on that island; I became more aware of my feelings."

Her eyes were wide and she was too surprised to say anything. "Really?"

He nodded.

"So did I?" She replied smiling.

"So does this mean-" He was cut off.

"Yes it does."

He blushed. "I was really wondering if um, maybe, well if you want to; maybe we could go out some time." He offered.

"Like a date?" She asked.

He was blushing.

"That would be great, but I want our relationship to be a secret." She explained.

"Me too." He agreed.

"We can't even tell our friends about this." She added.

He gulped feeling guilty. He told Carl and Sheen almost everything.

"But where will we go without anyone we know getting suspicious?" She asked.

"Well I was thinking that maybe we could pretend that we still hate each other in school; then when no one's around; we won't have to pretend anymore." He explained.

And that's how it all began. They were going to start dating but they would be careful to not let their affection show with other people around. Now they needed to decide on their first date.

"Uh question Neutron, where will we go for our first date?" She asked.

His eyes widened. He realized he didn't think of a place to go. He smiled as he got an idea. "I have an idea." He had decided to go to Retroland. He picked up Cindy and took off on his jet pack.


	2. Retroland

Jimmy and Cindy arrived Retroland and she glanced around. "Uh, see anyone we know, around here?" She asked nervously.

"Don't worry Cindy, I have everything under control." He took her hand and they went over to the toll booth to get their tickets. He took out his wallet and paid the guy. In return; Jimmy received 20 tickets. "Come on." He took Cindy's hand again and they wandered off; thinking of what ride they should go on first.

"So which ride should we go on first?" He asked.

"Uh," She began, glancing at the Octopuke ride. The kids on it were puking.

Jimmy smiled. "Good idea. I'm in the mood for some puking."

"Outta my way!" They heard a familiar voice tell a kid as he shoved pass him. It was Butch. Jimmy and Cindy gasped; then made a run for it. "That was close." He said catching his breath.

"You think he saw us?" She asked.

"Not while he was busy pushing that kid out of his way." He replied.

"Hey," She began, getting an idea. "Why don't we go on the microscopic thriller? That's one of my favorite rides."

"That's one of my favorites too." He agreed. They ran off holding hands and waited in the line. He gave a woman 3 tickets and she told him and Cindy to enjoy the ride. They found an empty seat on the roller coaster and got on.

The ride started and they enjoyed a microscopic world. They were shrunk into magnification. "Isn't this beautiful Jimmy?" Cindy asked.

"It sure is." He replied.

"It's magnificent." She just wanted to touch those beautiful snow flakes and the ice crystals were pretty too. He was fascinated by the scenery as well and they held hands. As the ride was nearing its end' they were returned to normal size.

"So what ride should we go on next?" She asked.

They looked around and one ride caught his interest. The illusion grasp.

"Oh what the hay! I can handle a scary ride." She told him.

"Great." Jimmy sighed as Butch ran pass them; excited to get on the ride that he didn't know it was them. "Outta my way!"

"What is it?" Cindy asked Jimmy as Butch got on a seat.

"It's Butch again."

She sighed. "We can't go on the ride or he'll see us." She whispered.

He couldn't take this anymore. "Who cares? I really wanna go on this ride and Butch is not going to ruin things this time." He then smiled. "Besides, if he bothers us; I think I have an idea. Come on."

She smiled as he grabbed her hand again, marched over to a seat and plopped down.

"Ooh." Butch said to a boy sitting next to him. It was one of his friends. Butch was pointing to Jimmy and Cindy and their cheeks were red. "It's nerdtron and his 'wittle' girlfriend!" Butch teased.

Jimmy immediately turned around. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"Oh yeah?" Butch asked sarcastically. "Then why are you with her?"

"Um because," Jimmy began, quickly thinking of something. "Because,"

"We were supposed to be meeting Libby and Sheen here but they stood us up." Cindy lied.

He nodded. If Butch didn't believe them; then they both knew they had to put their real plan in action. Butch seemed to be in thought for a few seconds. "Liars!" He laughed.

Jimmy and Cindy were annoyed as Butch began to tease them. "Jimmy and Cindy sitting in a tree, k.i.s.s.-" As he said 'i.n' Jimmy and Cindy smiled; then they both leaned in and started kissing. Butch froze, confused as he saw this. "G." He finished awkwardly.

Jimmy and Cindy pulled apart. Their kiss had been 3 seconds long. The guy in charge of the ride came back. "Okay, are you kids ready?"

They all shouted excitedly. "Yeah!"

The ride started. Everyone screamed as they saw Demons and Cindy grabbed onto Jimmy's shirt with fear. He had a big smile on his face. Even though the ride was scary; it was also very enjoyable and entertaining. After that they went on the dragon which was another roller coaster. What they didn't know was that someone out in the darkness was taking pictures of them. A very bad person.

Next Jimmy and Cindy headed for the arcade, holding hands. They got tokens and decided to play a shooting game. They saw Nick but his back was turned so he couldn't see them.

"Oh no, it's Nick." Jimmy whispered.

"We can't let him see us together like this." She whispered.

They purposely bumped into each other as soon as Nick turned. "Jimmy, Cindy."

Cindy looked up at Jimmy. "Nerdtron!" Her hands were in a fist and he clenched his teeth. "Vortex."

"What are you doing here?" She asked, pretending to be angry.

"What? I can't go to a nice arcade and have fun?" He asked playing along.

She scoffed. "It's bad enough that I have to see you in school."

"Well then maybe you should go to a different school!" He retorted.

"Uh, I'm just gonna go." Nick left the arcade not wanting to hear anymore of their 'arguing.'

Jimmy and Cindy smiled. "Great acting Jimmy."

"You too."

After playing a few games; they left the arcade. "Wanna go on the Thunderstorm fusion?" She asked.

He smiled. "Okay."

The person in the darkness watched as they walked off holding hands. He took a picture of them and chuckled evilly. "Enjoy yourself while you can Neutron cause soon their will be nothing for you to enjoy."

This person has been spying on Jimmy at every chance he got. He was around when Jimmy kissed Cindy in the alley. He was just going for a nice walk; trying to blow off some self esteem and when he was about to walk in that alley; he saw Jimmy grab Cindy's hand and kiss her. He even pulled out his camera and took a picture of that kiss!

When he saw that kiss; he knew how Jimmy really felt about Cindy and how most of their 'hate' for each other was just to cover up their real feelings. And he's been spying on him ever since that kiss! He knew they didn't want anyone to know they were dating and decided this would be a great opportunity to blackmail him.

Who was this person?


	3. Expectations

After Jimmy and Cindy's date; they were getting ready to leave Retroland and were eating cotton candy. "This was the most fantastic and awesome first date ever." She told him and he smiled.

"Agreed Cindy. You know, a few years back I'd probably gag at the thought of us ever hooking up but I guess this isn't so bad." He joked.

She sighed dreamily. "And to think; we get to go out like this everyday and it will be our little secret; maybe hughnormous secret and we can finally hang out like when we were stranded on that island."

"I wonder why we were rivals in the first place." He couldn't believe that he was actually going out with someone that he couldn't stand. Someone who used to make his life so miserable and tease him at every chance she got.

She laughed. "So do I. I mean I know it had to do with me being the smartest in the whole school and then you came. Everything was just so competitive and stressful."

He was confused. "Stressful?"

"It takes a lot of brains to achieve things and be the best at everything and sometimes even making one little mistake could; well let's just say things wouldn't be pretty." She seemed to be really thinking about something. "People can expect a lot out of you, even your own parents and-" She gasped. "Speaking of parents; my mom! She's going to kill me!"

From what she told him about Sasha Vortex, he knew she was a strict woman. She wants Cindy to be the best and to be just like her. She could also be very strict even over the smallest things. Heck if she found out that her daughter was dating Jimmy Neutron; she'd have a cow! She didn't like the neutrons, especially Jimmy for 'stealing' Cindy's title of the smartest kid in Lindbergh Elementary.

"Don't worry, I'll get you home." He picked her up and they took off on his jet pack again. When they were nearing her house; they stopped on the sidewalk. "So Candy Bar tomorrow at 12?" He asked.

"It's a date." She replied dreamily. As soon as he walked to his house she slightly frowned knowing she'd have to answer to her mom. She could tell her mom she was at Libby's. It was already 8:30 and her mom just got home from work 30 minutes ago. She wasn't really in any rush to go in the house and be yelled at by her mom. She slowly and carefully opened the door hoping her mom wouldn't be there waiting to scorn her. But no such luck.

"CYNTHIA AURORA VORTEX!"

Cindy covered her ears as Sasha yelled her full name. "Mom, I-"

"Where were you young lady? I was worried sick about you!" Sasha was mad.

"I was at Libby's." Cindy lied. It hurt that she couldn't tell her own mother that she was seeing Jimmy and she wouldn't be cool with them dating.

"You could have called me. You know how to use the phone! Is your brain leaking? I thought I raised you better than this! Start acting more civil like the intelligent young lady I know you are."

There her mom went again, lecturing her. "I- I'm sorry mom."

Sasha sighed. "I just want you to call next time. Now get ready for bed."

So Cindy went upstairs without saying another word. She knew it was useless to protest against her mother and that it would only get her grounded. Once Cindy got in her room and shut the door; she sighed dreamily thinking about what a wonderful time she had with Jimmy. This was too good to be true and she began to wonder if this was all just a crazy dream.

Cindy just wished she could tell Libby what an amazing time she had with Jimmy and how they're dating but she couldn't. Not so soon after Libby broke her promise. Best friends were like supposed to be able to trust and tell each other everything and Cindy hoped she would gain back her trust. Since she couldn't blab to Libby about Jimmy, she decided to get out her diary and write down everything that happened.

_'Dear diary'_

_You are never going to believe what just happened to me. It's nothing bad. __Neutron showed up at my door at around 5:30. At first I was a bit skeptical.__I mean it's not everyday that Neutron shows up at my door; except for when __he wanted to play pranks on me for whatever I did to tick him off. _

_Like I said in my last 10 entries; Neutron and I have been on friendlier terms. __Well we still biker every now and then about pointless things but today Jimmy __Neutron just told me that he really likes me a lot. __My heart melted and pinch __me I'm dreaming; but if you do that, I might have to pinch you cause I don't __think I'd ever want to wake up from this dream. Anyway moving on. He asked __me if I wanted to go out with him. He asked me out! _

_I said yes. Jimmy and I are going to keep our relationship a secret though __to avoid public humiliation, teasing from our peers and a rift between our __parents. We went to Retroland and it was the best first date ever!_

_We went on the microscopic thriller. We planned on going on the octopuke __ride but Butch was there. The one who teased me and Jimmy at school __yesterday. But I sure knocked him down. _

She turned the page over and continued writing.

_After the microscopic thriller, we went on the Illusion grasp and of course __Butch had to be on that ride too. Jimmy decided he didn't care and we're __not going to avoid that ride because of him and his stupid comments.__Of course he teased us and didn't believe our lie so we kissed just to __confuse him and throw him off guard. __He can tell people what he wants __on Monday but Jimmy and I are just going to biker like we usually do. __Nobody will believe Butch._

_Jimmy and I went on the Dragon; then in the arcade and played some games. __Nick was there so we put on an act and pretended to fight so he wouldn't __know something was up. He left annoyed and me and Jimmy played __a few more games and left the arcade._

_I asked him if he wanted to go on the Thunderstorm fusion and he __said okay. After that ride, we ordered some hot dogs and purple flurp. __We enjoyed Graystar's concert, after that, we had some cotton candy __and ate it as we were leaving Retroland._

_Tomorrow at lunch we are going to the Candy bar. It's going to be our __second date. __I better get to bed now and put you away. Goodnight my trustworthy __diary._

_-Cindy_

She closed the diary, put it away in her drawer and put the pen in it's place hold. She then went to bed. Jimmy was in his lab with Goddard and telling him what an amazing time he had with Cindy. He couldn't wait until tomorrow.

The next day it was a beautiful morning, the sun was out and birds were chirping in the trees. Jimmy let out a yawn and got out of bed. He rubbed his eyes and tried to adjust to the sunlight. Cindy was doing the exact same thing in her room.

He went downstairs and found a note on the fridge. He read it. _'Went shopping. Be back soon. We love you.' _They had left him a plate of pancakes. Cindy's mom got ready for work at around 11:30 and Jimmy was getting himself ready. He was dressed like he was on Valentines day. "See you later boy. I'm going to the Candy bar with Cindy." He told Goddard.

He walked next door and knocked. Cindy answered and she was dressed in a pink dress. "Ready for our date pretty Cindy?" He asked staring at her google eyed.

She giggled. "Ready hunk muffin."

He took her hand and they headed off. "Say it again Jimmy," She kept telling him.

"Pretty Cindy." He repeated for the tenth time causing her to giggle again.

They arrived at the Candy bar and ordered a giant ice cream sundae and shared a tropical shake which brought back memories of being on the island. They first thought it was the worst thing that could ever happen to them but then they ended up getting along and wanted to stay. Life seemed easier on the island and no stress. "So tomorrow is Monday." Cindy was telling him. "You think we can really act like none of this dating happened and no public affection?" She asked.

"Of course. It might be strenuous but I couldn't handle being teased."

"Me either." She agreed. She sighed as she thought about what could happen if her mom found out she was dating Neutron.

After the Candy Bar; they went roller skating at a skating rink where nice music was playing. They went bowling for a few hours; then they went to the park. They played frisbee, went on the swings, down the slides, across the monkey bars and on the teeter totter. They went for a stroll and at around sunset; they were sitting in a tree, holding hands and shared a smile.

"I had a great time." She told him.

He smiled. "Me too."

The person who was spying on them at Retroland was also at the park hiding behind a bush. He followed Jimmy and Cindy everywhere they went and he had his camera with him. "You're not gonna be having a great time for long Neutron." He chuckled to himself.


	4. Rejection and Blackmail

After watching the sunset; they got off the tree, went for another walk and he walked her home again. This time she was home before her mom. "We'll I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school." He told her, sad that the weekend was already over and they'd have to pretend they still hate each other.

"Yeah." She replied in the same tone.

He went home and she went in her house. She went in her room and plopped on the bed sighing. Tomorrow both she and Jimmy would have to act like none of this happened. Well at least in school and around other people.

Her telephone ringing interrupted her thoughts. It was Libby. "Hey Libs."

"Hey girl, what's up?" Libby asked.

"Uh nothing. Just preparing myself for tomorrow." Cindy just wanted to tell Libby what she was really doing.

"Guess what?" Libby asked excitedly.

"What?" Cindy asked.

"Graystar's new C-D will be in stores tomorrow!" Libby exclaimed.

"That's great." Cindy wanted to tell her that they preformed in Retroland but Libby would have been suspicious and want to know why she didn't ask her to tag along.

"I know. I'll even come over and we can listen to it together." Libby was a fan of their music.

After they hung up; Cindy got out her diary and wrote in it; then she went out on her balcony for awhile.

Jimmy was in his lab finishing the invention he was working on. "Almost finished." He was telling himself. "And done." He made glasses. They looked like regular glasses but they allow people to see things and people in 3-D!

"So what do you think Goddard?"

He barked.

"I know, I can't wait to show Carl and Sheen.

* * *

It was Monday and Jimmy was walking towards the school building with his friends. "The new Ultra Lord movie was so cool!" Sheen was telling them as he played with his Ultra Lord action figure. "You should have seen him! He's so cool!"

Jimmy took out the 3-D glasses. "Look guys. I made these last night."

Carl looked confused. "But I thought glasses were already invented."

"Not glasses that allow you to see life in 3-D!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"Cool!" Sheen was excited. "Give me!" He snatched one of the glasses from Jimmy and put them on. He panicked as he saw the building right near his face. "Help! Help me! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna hit my head! The building's too close!"

"Sheen! Take off the glasses."

Sheen took off the glasses. "That was close! That building almost killed me!"

The three friends walked inside. Cindy and Libby walked in. "From what I read; they say that girls mature faster than boys and they're also more studious and function more." She was telling Libby.

"Sounds a bit sexist." Libby replied.

"I mean think about it." Cindy went on rambling. She saw Jimmy walking with Carl and Sheen and tried to contain herself from walking over and hugging him.

"So you think you could come to the zoo with me to see the lamas after school?" Carl asked Jimmy.

"Uh actually, I'm gonna be busy working in my lab." Jimmy lied, remembering that he was going to the movies with Cindy.

"Look who it is Libs; Nerdtron!" Cindy pointed to him. "What have you got there? Are those glasses? You're already a nerd, fudge head!" She insulted.

"Quit calling me fudge head!" He retorted. "And for your information Vortex; these are 3-D glasses."

Her arms were folded. "Sorry to rain on your parade genius." She told him sarcastically. "But those were already invented."

"These allow you to see life in 3-D!" He replied, matter of factly. They were playing this game good and it was like they never even went out and they still hated each other. Butch was about to pass by with a few friends. "Ooh look, it's Nerdtron and his 'wittle' girlfriend!" He pointed at Jimmy and Cindy who were annoyed and also secretly embarrassed. "I just saw them together at Retroland and they even kissed!"

Libby, Sheen and Carl were confused. "Huh?" They all asked.

"What are you going on about now doofus?" Cindy asked; her hands balled in a fist. "Me and Nerdtron kissing?" She scoffed. "Please. I wouldn't kiss or go out with Nerdtron if he was the last boy on earth!"

"Oh yeah?" Jimmy asked. "Well I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last girl on earth!"

They stuck their tounges out at each other. "Come on guys," Jimmy said taking Carl and Sheen's hands. "Let's go."

"Come on Libs." Cindy took Libby's hands. "Let's get as far away from these losers as possible."

Butch was confused.

However a certain someone wasn't confused. He had seen Jimmy and Cindy's little 'arguement' when he was hiding behind a locker. "Oh, Neutron is going to be so shocked to see me again. Especially here out of all places." He had all the pictures he had taken of them; in his pockets and chuckled lightly.

In class, the students were greeted by Miss. Fowl. "Good morning class." She bawked as she spoke. "Today we have a few new students. Sagebrush Sally."

Carl, Sheen, Libby, Cindy and Jimmy gasped. They remembered her. Sally said hi and introduced herself before sitting down. Cindy glanced at Jimmy knowing that he had a crush on her the last time they saw her. Cindy was relieved to see that he wasn't still attracted to her.

"Now give a nice warm welcome to our other new student; Eustace Strych." Miss. Fowl said.

Jimmy, Cindy, Carl, Sheen and Libby's eyes went wide as Eustace entered the class. "It's an honer to meet you Miss. Fowl." He told her. Jimmy and his friends could see right through his act.

Eustace smirked at Jimmy as he passed his desk and went in the back. Cindy was confused when she saw him smirk at Jimmy. Jimmy was clearly upset that Eustace was now in their class; let alone this school! "Noooooooooooooo!" He yelled loud enough for the whole building to hear.

"Jimmy, stop yelling." Miss. Fowl told him. She went to the chalk board. "Now we are going to talk about the presidents of the united states."

The class groaned. During Fowl's Lecture; Jimmy and Cindy were passing notes to each other.

Jimmy's note to Cindy: _I'll be over after school my pretty Cindy._

She giggled a little when she received the note and wrote back. _Can't wait Hunk Muffin._

He blushed at the hunk muffin part.

Eustace was watching them and took out his camera. He raised his hand. He was going to snitch on them but he knew they would immediately deny anything and probably hide the notes. He just wanted them to be embarrassed; especially Neutron. Fowl called on Eustace. "Yes Eustace."

"I don't wanna be a snitch but I think Jimmy and Cindy are passing notes."

This caught the students attention especially Jimmy and Cindy who immediately froze and pushed their notes in their backpacks. "What?" They both asked while Fowl walked over.

"We weren't passing notes." He lied.

"That would be bazar." Cindy added.

Miss. Fowl went back to the board and while no one was paying attention; Sally was staring dreamily at Jimmy like she has been almost the whole time. She now had feelings for him and thought he still liked her. She had been thinking about how he tried to impress her and thought it was sweet. Also she kind of liked him before; when she first saw him on the bleachers with his friends. Something about him had just drawn her attention. Maybe it was his beautiful blue eyes, maybe it was his shirt or maybe it was his hair and the way it reminded her of ice cream on a cone. Whatever it was about him; she was captivated.

The last bell rang and everyone was getting ready to leave. When Jimmy was heading for his locker, Sally walked over tossing her hair. "Howdi Jimmy." She batted her eyelashes

Jimmy turned and was surprised she was talking to him. He thought maybe she was still upset that he had lied to her. "Uh hi Sally. Listen, I'm really sorry I lied to you." He apologized.

She giggled. "Oh that's okay. I've been over that months ago."

He couldn't help but detect something in her voice. She was talking to him almost like she was flirting with him. Back then; he would have been more than happy that she was returning his feelings but now he was over her.

"So anyway, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out sometime."

Jimmy was unable to move now. So she was flirting with him. He didn't want to hurt her feelings but he knew he had to let her down easily. She seemed like a nice person, she would understand. "Uh, actually I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" She asked surprised and upset which caught Jimmy off guard. She didn't sound like she was going to take this well and she sounded like a spoiled brat who didn't get what she wanted. "Is their someone else?" Their was this envious look in her eyes; gleaming.

He was now nervous and uncomfortable to be around her. "Uh, no, not at all. It's just; I don't like you that way anymore."

"What?" She exclaimed trying to control herself from yelling.

"Listen Sally," Jimmy tried; being as sensitive as he could. "Sometimes peoples' feelings for someone can change and-" He gasped and was completely shocked as he felt Sally slap his face hard. "No you listen to me Neutron!" She looked very menacing. "Nobody ever rejects Sagebrush Sally! I always get what I want!" She kicked his shin causing him to yelp with pain.

He was very upset. She was anything but nice and understanding. She was just some bratty loser and snob. "Well I just did Sagebrush Sally." He said her name with sarcasm. "And I'd never want to go out with anyone like you," He pointed at her as she just stared with shock and disbelief. "Because you are rotten!" He finished.

She gasped. "What did you just say?"

He stormed off without saying another word.

"Nobody ever disses Sagebrush Sally! Ever!" She couldn't believe what just happened. No one ever spoke to her like that. Everybody loved her and wanted to hang out with her. What was wrong with Neutron?

He was walking with his friends. "So what did Sally want to talk to you about?" Sheen asked.

"Uh nothing important." Jimmy replied not really wanting to talk about it. He just wanted to avoid that Sally girl at all costs.

"The end of the school year is coming and the school's having a dance." Carl told him.

Jimmy was surprised. "Really?" He could go with Cindy. Oh right. He remembered they had to keep things a secret.

"Yeah and I don't have a date." Carl whined.

"I'm sure you'll find someone." Jimmy assured him.

Libby and Cindy were talking about the dance. "So who are you going with Libs?" Cindy asked.

"Uh, I don't have a date yet. What about you?"

"Well not yet. It's not like their's a guy in this school I want to go with anyways." Cindy saw Eustace walking over. "And speaking of guys I don't want to go with. What do you want Eustace?" She asked annoyed.

"Now is that anyway to talk to an old friend?" He asked sarcastically. "I was hoping we could talk." He glanced at Libby. "Alone."

Libby walked off.

"So I hear that their's a dance coming up."

Right when he said that; Cindy knew what he wanted and chuckled sarcastically. "Oh so you thought you'd just walk over and ask me to the dance and I'd say yes? Unbelievable! I didn't forget about what happened on Mars! I'm not falling for anymore of your tricks; even if it's not, I still wouldn't go with you!"

"And why not?" He asked. "Seeing someone?" He asked, taking her out in the empty school yard. "A certain thick-headed genius perhaps?" He smirked knowingly and she looked shocked because she knew it was true but he didn't, right? He only assumed.

"Neutron and I aren't dating."

He chuckled. "Then how do you explain these?" He showed her various pictures he had taken of her and Jimmy. She was really shocked now. She saw pictures of her and Jimmy at the Candy Bar, them eating cotton candy, holding hands, him walking her home, kissing on the Illusion Grasp and sitting in the tree at the park. "How did you-"

"I've been spying on Neutron ever since you two kissed in that alley." He explained, chuckling as he watched her eyes go wide. "Things don't have to be so complicated. I'll keep your precious secret. All Jimmy has to do is whatever I say and you will go to the dance with me."

She sighed. "Fine. But if you tell anyone; your face is gonna be a flattened pancake!" She threatened.

She ran off to get Jimmy like Eustace told her to. He was getting books out of his locker and shoved them in his back pack. She rushed over, grabbed his hand and brought him to the school yard. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Eustace knows about us." She whispered.

"What?" He asked shocked; causing Eustace to chuckle. "That's right Neutron. As I told Cindy; you will do whatever I say. I want you miserable, I want you to pay for foiling my plans! I could be taking over Mars right now if it weren't for you!" He still held a grudge on him.

"That was like 3 months ago! Get a life you loser and for everyones' sake; get some therapy!" Jimmy retorted.

"Don't be rude Neutron. I'm being fair right now. I mean I could just make copies of the pictures I took of you two and tape them all over school." Eustace knew he had them both defeated now.

Jimmy sighed defeated. Eustace chuckled as he watched them walk off in separate directions with their heads hanging. They were miserable. The buses were gone so Jimmy and Cindy were left at school. It was a good thing Jimmy's backpack was also his jet pack. "Ready to go to the movies?" He asked.

"Of course."

He lifted her up and took off in the air. They arrived the theatre, ordered popcorn, hot dogs, soda and candy. They were going to share the soda and had two straws. They went in theatre 10 where a Jet Fusion movie was playing. They could finally relax and enjoy a nice movie after a long horrible day at school. "Do you think he's watching us?" She asked.

Jimmy was confused. "Who?"

"Eustace."

"Oh that ding bat. I don't know, probably." He replied taking a bite into his hot dog.

After the movie, they were in his hovercraft going for a nice ride. They were contemplating on whether they should tell their friends about them or not. A part of them wanted to; especially Cindy but it was too soon.

Eustace of course was spying on hem again in his rocket since he had nothing better to do with his pathetic life. It was one of his goals in life; to make Neutron miserable. He was with his trusty and faithful survent Blix.


	5. Young love

Cindy's telephone rang. It was Libby and she bought the C-D. She came over; they put it in Cindy's boombox and listened to all the songs. "So what did Eustace want to talk to you about?" Libby asked.

"Oh nothing important. He just apologized for last time." Cindy lied. She felt like socking that spoiled jerk right in the face.

"Hm, it's probably another trick. Don't fall for it." Libby warned. She sighed depressed. "I really need a date for the dance."

"Why don't you ask Sheen?" Cindy suggested causing Libby to blush.

"What? I don't like Sheen that way." She smiled. "But you like Jimmy."

Now it was Cindy's turn to blush. "Me and Neutron?"

"Yeah. All you have to do is ask him to go with you."

"I have a reputation to keep."

"Right." Libby knew how difficult Cindy could be. Libby also thought about her possible feelings for Sheen. Sure he was too obsessed with Ultra Lord and could be crazy at times but he could also be very sweet.

At school, Carl sighed as he walked to his locker. He really wanted a date for the dance. He sighed as he stared at a picture of Elke. He really missed her. Jimmy happened to be walking over when Carl was looking at the picture. Jimmy felt bad for him. "Carl."

"Oh hi Jimmy, I was just uh," Carl began to sob. "I really miss her Jimmy! I wish I could go to the dance with her!"

Jimmy put an arm around him for comfort. "Well she's still your pen pall right?"

"Yeah."

"Well maybe you could ask her to come. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to go to the dance with you." Jimmy told him.

"Yeah, I could ask her. I even have her phone number. But what if she already has someone else!" Carl asked beginning to panick.

"Oh come on Carl, that's insayin. It's only been a few months."

"You're right." Carl agreed. "I'll call her when I get home."

Jimmy smiled happy that his friend was feeling better. Not everyone was happy though. Sally entered the building with rage; slamming the door behind her. She was still upset about being turned down. Some students were startled when they heard the door slam.

Eustace saw this happen and was smiling. He knew about what happened. He was around when Jimmy rejected her. Eustace had an idea and walked over to angry Sally. "Something must be troubling you." He told her.

"What are you talking about?" She snapped, really not wanting to talk to anyone.

"I heard you asking Jimmy out and how he rudely rejected you. I know how you feel. It sucks when you don't get what you want. Which is why I can help." He took her in the janitor's closet so they can talk. "There's something you should know about Neutron. He's dating Cindy Vortex."

Sally's eyes went wide. "What?" She almost screamed and he had to put a hand over her mouth. That's why Jimmy turned her down! Cause he was seeing someone. She knew it; she just didn't know it would be Cindy. She thought they hated each other. Sally just wanted to claw at Cindy.

"Sh, we both have something we can use against them. You see; they want their relationship a secret and we won't tell anyone unless they refuse our orders." Eustace told her.

She smiled. "This is perfect. I can date Neutron whether he wants to or not and that stupid Cindy will be hurt seeing me with her precious boyfriend." She smirked as she pictured Cindy looking all jealous and hurt.

He laughed. "And Jimmy will be so jealous seeing me flirt with Cindy." The only reason he wanted to go to the dance with Cindy was too see Jimmy jealous. He had no feelings for her, he just wanted to taunt Neutron.

Sheen was running around in the hall with the Ultra Lord action figure. Libby sighed as she watched him. "He's so obsessed." She said to herself. She wondered why she was starting to have feelings for him?

Class was going to start soon and when Jimmy was walking with his friends; he could tell that something was troubling Sheen. "Is everything alright?" Jimmy asked concerned.

"Everything is Ultra cool." Sheen replied sadly.

Everything was not cool though. In class when everyone was working; Jimmy would glance at Sheen on and off and find him staring in Libby's direction. Sheen was having girl trouble and didn't know what to do.

Cindy noticed that Libby seemed to be acting strange too. She looked a little depressed and confused. She didn't know Sheen was staring at her on and off. She still had the Ultra Lord action figure he gave her. It was special to her because it reminded her of the time they spent together on Valentines day.

During break time, as Sheen was leaving the classroom, he accidentally bumped into Libby and things were awkward. He didn't feel like his self and he had no idea why he felt so sweaty and like he wanted to melt when he was near her. He never felt this way before. "I uh, you can go first."

She blushed. "Uh thanks." She walked out the door confused about what just happened. Cindy was waiting for her friend standing in front of a bullington board. Libby walked over and Cindy smiled. "So what just happened with you and Ultra dork?" She asked Libby, jokingly.

"Uh, nothing- nothing." Libby covered her mouth so Cindy couldn't see her cheeks turn red. "He just bumped into me and said I could go first; that's all. Nothing happened."

"That explains why you're blushing." Cindy teased.

"Okay, okay, so what if I might like him a little. I mean; Sheen can actually be very sweet and nice; when he's not obsessing over Ultra Lord." Libby admitted, feeling herself blush again.

"So you like Sheen?" Cindy asked with a knowing smirk.

"I do not! I said what if I might?" Libby denied. "It's not like you're ever going to admit that you like Neutron." She smiled at Cindy's reaction.

Cindy knew Libby was right. Cindy would never admit to anyone that she liked Jimmy; especially her parents. She knew that she and Jimmy were dating but it was their little secret. No one else knew not even Libby, Carl and Sheen and Cindy was beginning to feel guilty for not telling Libby. "That's because I don't Libs!" Cindy exclaimed covering her cheeks.

"Right." Libby replied sarcastically.

Jimmy went outside where all the kids were playing and walked over to Sheen who was sitting all by himself at a bench, depressed. "Are you sure everything's alright Sheen?"

"Yeah, super." Sheen lied, sighing. "I'm having a problem with this girl. I think I might really like her, a lot but I don't know what to do. What would Ultra Lord do in a situation like this?" He was panicking.

"Well maybe you should just talk to her and try being friends." Jimmy replied. "By the way is this girl by any chance Libby?"

"How did you know? I mean, no."

Jimmy smiled. "It's okay Sheen. She might like you too; you'll never know if you don't talk to her."

Sally walked over smiling sweetly. "Hey Jimmy, Sheen."

Jimmy's smile faded as he saw her.

"Oh hey Sally." Sheen replied.

"Can I have a moment with Jimmy?" She asked.

"Sure." Sheen ran off to play.

"So Jimmy, I know we got off on the wrong foot yesterday but it's a new day. I heard about the school dance and it sounds like a lot of fun but I don't have a date." She told him smiling.

Jimmy couldn't believe this. "I told you, I don't like you that way anymore."

Sally smirked. "Why? Because you're seeing a certain blond-haired rival who's last name is Vortex?" She asked knowingly with her arms folded. The reaction on his face was priceless and she continued. "Oh yeah. I know all about it. And I also know you would be ruined if your secret got out." She cleared her throat. "So I am asking you nicely to be my date for that dance and to go out with me."

"Since I am seeing someone, I should inform you that she won't be too happy to hear that you're trying to steal me from her." Jimmy explained. He could picture Cindy going off on her.

"Of course not but she's still going with Eustace to keep this secret." She smirked.

He sighed and gave her a defeated look to let her know he'd go to the dance with her and on dates. She walked off in triumph.

Cindy really wasn't going to like this but it was for the sake of their secret. He glanced around and spotted Cindy playing jump rope with Libby and Brittany. He really needed to tell her but Libby and Brittany would get suspicious and wonder why he would want to talk to Cindy.

He smirked as he looked down at something on his wrist. It was his zap watch. How could he forget about it. He just invented it yesterday. He could zap a beam at anyone, even from far distance. It would just give them a little shock, nothing serious. He pressed the button on the zap watch; after making sure it was aimed in Cindy's direction.

Cindy let out a yelp as the blue beam zapped her right in the stomach. She looked up and saw Jimmy smirking. "Neutron!" She cried out pretending to be upset. She had seen Sally talking to him earlier and figured he wanted to talk to her about that. She ran after him, shouting insults at him. Once they went in the building; she stopped. "What's going on?" She asked.

"Sally's in on it. Eustace told her."

Cindy was confused. "Sally's in on this. But why would she even care if we go out?"

He sighed. "Yesterday, she asked me to be her boyfriend,"

She gasped hearing this.

"I turned her down and she got all psycho and told me she always gets what she wants." He explained.

"Oh you just wait until I get my hands on Snothead Sally! She's going to wish that she was never born." Cindy's hands were clenched in a fist and her teeth were gritted.

"I have to go to the dance with her and date her or our relationship will be exposed to everyone." He hung his head.

"Great." She replied sarcastically. "First it's Eustace Doofus and now Snothead Sally!"

"We have to Cindy, unless you want everyone to find out about us." His cheeks turned red as he remembered all the kids that teased him and Cindy after Libby reported about them playing footsie in the library and seeing Jimmy and Cindy playing the walking elephant before awkwardly scooting away.

"No! Of course not Neutron!"

He sighed. He wasn't happy about this either but they didn't have a choice. "Look, we can find a way to make this work out. I still want to go roller skating with you after school but we need to make a schedule because of Sally."

They went back outside. Jimmy went to go play with Carl and Sheen and Cindy continued playing jump rope with Libby, Brittany and a few other girls. "So what was all that about?" Libby asked Cindy.

"What was all what about?" Cindy asked puzzled.

"You and Neutron?" Libby asked.

"Oh that!" Cindy blushed. "Nothing. He's just being an obnoxious jerk."

Sheen sighed as he watched the girls play jump rope. The dance was a few weeks away and he knew Jimmy was right. Sheen was going to ask Libby to that dance even if he feared being rejected. "Ultra Lord doesn't fear rejection or get nervous, so why should I?" Sheen asked himself as he held up the action figure.

In a few minutes, it would be time to go back to class so all the students went in the building. Sheen found Libby at her locker; taking out her C-D player and headphones. He took in a deep breath, smelled near his arm pits to make sure he didn't smell bad and ruffled his hair a little. "I have to be Ultra cool." He told himself. He quickly sprayed himself with some nice scented cologne and walked his 'cool' walk which was really silly.

"Uh, hey Libs." He tried to hide how nervous he was. He wanted to be cool around her.

She faced him. "Oh hey Sheen. Are you wearing cologne?" She asked, sounding a bit surprised. She kind of liked it and thought he smelled nice. Also his hair looked a little different.

"You like?" He asked in his cool tone.

"Uh, it's unlike you but interesting." She really didn't know what to say.

"Thanks, so um," He began as he cleared his throat. "I was wondering if maybe, well if maybe you'd like to or want to; if you don't have a date for the dance, maybe you could, uh go with me?" He finally asked trying not to come across eager or sound desperate. He heard that ladies don't like it when a guy comes across too eager.

She was taken back by his offer. He really went out of his way to ask her and it was sweet. "Uh, sure." She replied. "Just no weird stuff or excessive talk about Ultra Lord; Kay?" She asked in a half joking manner.

"Uh, cool; uh I mean, I'm down with all that. I feel you." He tried to play smooth which caused her to chuckle a little. At that moment; the bell rang.

"See you around Sheen." She headed for class.

Sheen pumped his fists in the air. "Yes!" He whispered excitedly.

In class while everyone was working; the door opened. "Uh, sorry to interrupt." It was a girl. "But is this my class?"

"Who are you?" Miss. Fowl asked.

"Elke Elkberg." The girl replied.

Carl was surprised and happy.

"Oh yeah, uh class this is another new student. Elke Elkberg." Miss. Fowl explained.

Half the class snickered and laughed; finding her last name funny.

"Elkeberg?" One said laughing.

Elke's cheeks turned red. She felt like she didn't belong already. Butch who sat in the back of Carl; laughed. "Elke Elkberg?"

Carl turned around facing him. "Hey! It's a nice name!"

Elke was happy to see him.

"And is she your wittle girlfriend?" Butch asked.

She sat in the seat next to Carl and Butch snickered. "Looks like Wheezer's got a girlfriend!" He teased.

"Hey Carl." Elke said.

"Hi." He replied.

During the next break; Carl was showing Elke around. Sheen was happy that Libby didn't reject him and Jimmy was proud of him. Libby rushed over to Cindy who was looking through a text book. "Hey Cindy, guess what?" Libby asked excitedly.

Cindy looked up from her book. "Hey Libs, why so enthusiastic?" She asked.

"Well before class; Sheen walked over and well, he sort of asked me to the dance." Libby replied.

"And you said yes?" Cindy asked knowingly.

"He was so sweet and he smelled kind of nice." Libby replied blushing. "You should think about asking Jimmy before that new girl sweeps him off his feet."

"What?" Cindy exclaimed as she stared at where Libby was pointing. She saw Sally talking to Jimmy and immediately covered her mouth after realizing her outburst. "I mean why should I care who Nerdtron goes with?" She chuckled nervously.

Libby smiled. "Because he's your hunk muffin."

"Hunk muffin?" Cindy asked surprised. "Where'd you get that from? Oh right, Jet's wedding. I just thought Neutron looked nice for once. That doesn't mean I like him."

"Right." Libby replied sarcastically.

"Well I'm not the one who said that Sheen was so sweet and smelled kind of nice." Cindy informed sarcastically with a smile.

Libby knew she was caught but quickly thought of a comeback. "Yeah but I didn't give him a personal nick name such as hunk muffin." She teased.

"Fine." Cindy folded her arms. "But you still said he was sweet and smelled nice."

"Kind of nice." Libby corrected.

"Same thing."

"Let's just drop this right now." Libby was embarrassed.

When school was out; Sally rushed over to Jimmy. "So I'll see you tonight at McSpanky's at around six-ish?" She asked flirting.

He sighed. "Yes."

She frowned. "And I want you to have a pleasant attitude when we go out or I'll tell everyone about you and Cindy."

He gulped and forced a smile. "Got it."

She smiled. Things were going so great. Eustace was smiling as he heard them talk and rushed over to Cindy who was walking down the steps. "Cynthia my love; what's the rush?"

She frowned. "Trying to get away from you; that's what."

"Come on lovely, don't be so difficult, I just want us to get acquainted, get to know each other a little more."

"And I just want to punch the living daylights out of you but we all can't get what we want, not even rich and obnoxious tyrants like you!" She retorted.

"Now don't be rude Cynthia, that is no way for such a beautiful and intelligent young lady such as yourself to behave." He looked really sly as he spoke.

"Well not everyone is sexist and degrading like you!" She suddenly smiled feeling flattered. "Did you just say I was beautiful and intelligent?" She really liked it when she was complimented and told that she was beautiful and intelligent even if the person is just conning her. It wasn't everyday she was told she was beautiful.

He smirked. "I'll see you tonight at McSpanky's at around six-ish. Don't be late. Eustace does not like waiting." He walked off.

"Hey!" She shouted, realizing she fell for his compliments again. "Just because your compliments flatter me and throw me off track doesn't mean that I'm falling for another one of your shenanigans!"

She headed for her bus. This was going to be torture.


	6. Skating and dating

On the bus, Cindy sat next to Libby, Carl was sitting with Elke and they were in deep conversation and Jimmy was sitting next to Sheen who was telling him his great news. "So anyways, I took your advice and asked Libs to be my date." Sheen pumped his fists in the air; overjoyed.

Jimmy smiled. "That's great. I'm really proud of you Sheen." He was happy Sheen gained courage to ask Libby to the dance. Jimmy wished he had courage to tell Eustace and Sally off, go to the dance with Cindy, be happy with her and not care what anyone thinks.

He sighed as he looked out the window and watched the clouds. He just couldn't wait to go ice skating with Cindy. He knew they couldn't stay that long because of Eustace and Sally and Jimmy and Cindy would have to dress up to get ready for their torturous dates with them.

Jimmy sighed again. He was glad Sheen was in his own world and wasn't paying attention to anything else; otherwise he would question Jimmy about what's wrong. "Oh yeah Jimmy; who are you going with?"

Jimmy's eyes widened. "Me? Oh right." He faked a chuckle. "I'm going with Sagebrush Sally."

Sheen gave Jimmy a high five. "Wow Neutron! You're a chick magnet!"

Cindy sighed as she stared out the window. Whatever Libby was saying became a meaningless buzz as Cindy allowed her thoughts to take over. She was stressed, angry, miserable and she didn't know how much longer she could take this. Her mom, struggling to be perfect with everything she does and Eustace and Sally's blackmail.

"Hello," Libby said waving her hands in front of Cindy's face causing her to snap out of her thoughts. "Earth to Cindy."

"Huh?" Cindy asked.

"I asked if you have a date for the dance yet. Come on girl, spill. Someone had to ask you or are you going to ask Jimmy?" Libby asked.

Cindy faked a laugh. "I don't need Nerdtron and I already have the perfect date."

Libby was curious.

"I'm going with Eustace Strych. He just asked me minutes ago before I departed." Cindy finished sounding happy.

"What?" Libby gasped. "Have you completely lost it girl? Eustace Strych? Girl, he's a fink and a very manipulative spoiled brat! He used you twice." She explained hoping to knock sense into her friend. She knew Cindy liked Jimmy and not Eustace so why did she keep trying to fool everyone? Why couldn't she just come out with her feelings and be happy with him already?

"Have I lost it?" Cindy asked faking disbelief. "At least I'm not going with Sheen. And besides Eustace can be genuine when he wants." She had trouble saying something nice about Eustace and wanted to gag as soon as she refered to him as genuine.

Libby just shook her head smiling. "Whatever you say."

Cindy could be in denial all she wants but Libby was no longer fooled with this 'hatred' towards Jimmy. She realized Cindy's true feelings for Jimmy around three months ago. It was also around the same time that Cindy was just starting to become aware of her feelings for Jimmy and it scared her because she thought she was supposed to hate him. After all; he was her rival.

Cindy remembered when she first met Jimmy and they instantly became rivals. It was 2 years ago when she was in the 3rd grade. She had been the smartest kid in retrovile until he showed up and stole her title. She was furious; mainly because she knew her mom would be disappointed that another student would be getting better grades than her.

* * *

2 years ago...

_Cindy Vortex was sitting at her desk with a smug. She knew she would have the highest grade in class; as usual. That was until the teacher walked over to Jimmy's desk looking really impressed. Her name was Mrs. Walsh. "Jimmy Neutron. I am very impressed with your article about science and it was pretty accurate. Everything you wrote."_

_He smiled. "Thanks Mrs. Walsh. School is a place for learning and challenging your mind so I did my resources and went over them 138 times to exact to make sure no errors were made."_

_Cindy gritted on her pencil as she listened in. He was a threat and a rival and he was smarter than her. He wasn't just smart; he was a genius. "Kiss up." She mumbled to herself with hate._

_"Most students don't take learing very serious except for Miss. Vortex. And you are the first student in this entire school to get an A + +."_

_Cindy gasped hearing this. "WHAT?" She covered her mouth, realizing her outburst. No one has ever gotten an A + + before. She wasn't even sure if it even existed. She was the smartest in the whole school so wouldn't she have gotten this grade too?_

_"Well I do try my best." Jimmy replied to the impressed teacher. "In fact, I even invent stuff and I have a robotic dog named Goddard. I created him myself. Maybe I could bring him for show and tell."_

_The teacher was really impressed now. "That would be great."_

_Cindy stuck her tounge out at this new boy. It was his first day and he was already a threat. She couldn't let him replace her as the smartest. Her mom would be truly disappointed._

_She was going to talk to this boy as soon as the bell rings and everyone leaves for lunch. As Jimmy was getting ready to leave the class room, Cindy grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in the halls. She pushed him against a wall and held his hands back. She had a threating look in her eyes as she stared at him. _

_He felt scared and threatened. Just the vicious look in her eyes. "I don't know who you think you are coming in this school and flattering the teacher like that but I'll have you know; I am Cindy Vortex the most intelligent student in this entire school and I always get the best grades and win every science fair!" She pushed his head back causing him to grunt. "And I will not let you ruin things for me. Do I make myself clear?"_

_"I honestly don't get what the problem is. I am just here to learn like everyone else and so what if I am smarter than you! It's not the end of the world. You don't have to be such a teacher's pet." He already hated this girl and it hasn't even been a minute since they met._

_She gasped at this. "What did you just say to me, Neutron?" She asked, daring him to say it again._

_He smirked. "That's right Vortex. You heard me. A teacher's pet."_

_She grabbed him by the shirt again and pulled him closer so he could face her. "I am well respected around here brain boy and grades are very serious to me. Being the best and being good at everything and I'm not going to be the second best."_

_"Yeah? Well grades are very important to me too and I love science. And I'm not going to give up on being a genius just because you're such a jealous sore loser." He retorted._

_She couldn't believe he was actually standing up to her. "Yeah? Well at least I don't have such a big head, and what up with the hair brain boy? Are you a troll?" She insulted._

_"No, I am not a troll Vortex!" He replied sarcastically and annoyed. _

_"Then what are you brain boy? Enlighten me." She laughed cruelly._

_"Okay. Gladly. First off; my name's not 'brain boy' it's Jimmy Neutron and secondly, I am positive that I'm 100 percent human!" _

_She snarled. "You better just watch your back Neutron." Her hands were clutched in a fist. "You obviously have no idea who you're dealing with and I will make your life a living nightmare."_

_"You already have." He replied. He began to walk off and she just smiled wickedly as she watched him._

_"Well this is only the beginning...Nerdtron."_

* * *

And from that day on; Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex were rivals. They would constantly argue and yell at each other. She would tease, insult and call him mean names and he did it right back. They stuck their tounges out at each other and made faces. They hated each other. She hated him cause he stole her title and he hated her cause she was annoying and made his life miserable.

The first awkward moment they had was when they were in space to save their parents. It was last year when they were in the fourth grade Jimmy and Cindy were across from each other in rocket ships and they were smiling at each other. They were just lost in each other and when Jimmy realized what he was doing; he immediately made a face at her and turned away. She did the same.

The first time she was ever nice to him was when they were locked in the dungeon in space. She actually comforted him and encouraged him to put his big brain to use and help everyone.

Things went back to normal right after they rescued their parents. Jimmy and Cindy continued their constant fighting but they also started to have more moments were they actually got along and even complimented each other.

When she realized she was starting to have feelings for him, the way she treated him was more to cover up her real feelings for him instead of just rivalry.

He began to like her too and when they were on that island; things seemed simple and they were able to get along without having to worry about pressure, stress, or mean people. Just the two of them and all the time in the world.

Cindy sighed thinking about that beautiful island. Sometimes she wished that Libby, Carl and Sheen never found them and they could still be there. They would have nothing to hide cause no one would be around. Jimmy was also thinking about the island.

Carl really wanted to ask Elke to be his date for the dance but he wanted to ask her somewhere special. He knew one place they both loved. "Elke. How would you like to go to the petting zoo with me? We can pet the lamas and I also have something really important that I wanna ask you."

She smiled. "I'd love too. Thanks Carl."

He smiled back. "No problem. So at around 4?"

She took his hand and they both shared a smile. The bus stopped at his place and he asked the driver if Elke could get off with him. After he said yes; Carl and Elke skipped off the bus, still holding hands.

Soon all the kids were dropped off and Jimmy and Cindy were the only two left. She got up from her seat and sat next to him. "It's a good thing we get dropped off last." She whispered causing him to grin.

"Agreed. My parents are not going to be home till for awhile but they figure I'll be with friends, so we can just walk straight to the park after we get our roller blades." He explained.

She grinned. "Actually, I'm all ready to go Neutron." She took out a pair of pink roller blades and his smile grew.

"So am I." He took her hand.

When the bus stopped near Jimmy's house; they got off and headed for Retropark. "So I was thinking that we could go to the arcade tomorrow or we could go to this cool science museum that just opened." Jimmy suggested.

Cindy's eyes widened with interest. "Well I do love science Neutron. As you know; I used to win every single science fair until you showed up." She said in a joking manner.

He smiled. "Yes, I'm aware of that."

They playfully shoved, bickered a little and teased each other on their way to the park. "Maybe we could gaze at the stars through my new telescope." He told her.

"And I could point at all the constellations." She replied.

They arrived the park and looked around. Kids were on the playground, playing in the sand and running around while their parents watched from the benches reading their newspapers. A father was playing frisbee with his daughter and her mother was petting a golden retriever.

It was a beautiful afternoon. They stopped near a gated fence. Inside that fence were skating ramps and several kids were in there; skating. "Oh Neptune's." Jimmy cried out causing Cindy to become concerned. "What?"

Nick was in the gate, sitting at a bench. They couldn't let him see them together or they'd be in trouble. "What are we going to do? We can't let him see us. We nearly got caught last time." Jimmy told her.

"Uh," She glanced around. She saw a girl walk over to Nick. It was Betty. "I don't think we're gonna have a problem," She replied as she pointed causing him to look back up. "He's too busy going gaga eyed over Betty." She finished.

"Well can you really blame him?" Jimmy asked smiling. Even though he liked Cindy now, he still found Betty attractive.

Cindy elbowed him in the ribs, hard.

"Ow, I was only kidding!" He exclaimed.

She immediately covered his mouth and hissed; "Do you want him to hear us and know we're here?"

He shook his head.

"Now come on." She took his hand and they went inside. They found an empty bench and sat down so they could put on their skates. They also watched as the kids skated and were on the look out for familiar people.

"I'm glad you came Betty." Nick told her.

She smiled. "I loved roller skating ever since I was little."

"Me too!" He exclaimed. "I do have a habit of falling down a lot and getting hurt though."

She giggled a little.

"Uh, there's something I wanna ask you." He said, suddenly becoming serious. He really liked her and she was the only girl in school that he found interesting and they had stuff in common. "Uh, well, you know that end of the year dance is coming up." He began.

She nodded.

"I was wondering if we could, you know; go together." He said.

"Of course!" She exclaimed. "I was just gonna ask you the same thing." As she hugged him; she caught a glimpse of Jimmy and Cindy at a bench. "It looks like we're not the only couple here."

"Huh?" Nick asked confused. She turned his head and he saw his classmates. "Jimmy and Cindy?"

Betty smiled to herself. She always had a feeling they would end up together someday.

"I just saw them at the Retroland arcade on saturday." He said remembering. "They just started arguing and so I left."

However, Betty was smart and knew love when she saw it. She wondered if the whole argument at the arcade was just a facade and maybe they were even secretly dating!

Jimmy and Cindy noticed that Betty and Nick were staring at them and their checks turned red as they awkwardly scooted away from each other.

Betty could tell just from that; that they were hiding something and her asumption was right. "I think they're dating." She told Nick.

"I think they're on to us." Cindy whispered to Jimmy.

Nick and Betty walked over. "Hey guys." She greeted cheerfully.

The secret couple looked up. "Oh hey Betty, Nick." Cindy chuckled nervously. "What brings you here?"

Betty smiled. "We we're just going to ask you the same thing."

Jimmy looked down at his hands as his blushing was starting to become more noticable.

Cindy forced a wider smile as her cheeks grew more red even though she tried to hide it. "What a small world huh? Who would of thought? You, Nick, me and Brain boy."

"Uh, this is getting too awkward for me." Nick quietly told Betty and she hushed him. "Sh!"

"You see, the thing is; we came here to meet up with our friends but they stood us up." Jimmy lied as he continued to play with his fingers.

"Yeah. What he said." Cindy said too quickly. "They better have a good reason for doing this to us. I mean, I could be at home right now finishing my homework."

Betty just smiled. Oh something was going on alright. "Well Nick asked me to meet him here since we both love to skate and we're going to the dance together. You two should totally think of going together; unless things would be awkward. I think you guys would be cute."

Jimmy and Cindy froze at this. "What?" They both said off guard.

"Me and Vortex?" He asked and at the same time she said; "Me and Neutron?"

Betty just smiled again and Nick looked completely lost and clueless. "I just get this vibe from you two. Like their's something you're hiding because you're both afraid to just come out of the closet."

Jimmy and Cindy's jaws dropped.

"It's okay if there is something going on between you two. I won't tell a soul." Betty finished.

"Uh Betty, what gives you the idea that me and Cindy have something going on?" He asked trying not to sound so nervous.

"I saw you guys walk here together holding hands." She admitted with a big smile. "You were even smiling at each other and the fact that you both awkwardly scooted away when you saw us; gives it away."

"Uh-" He and Cindy began to stutter nervously and chuckled. She suddenly jumped up and grabbed Betty by the shirt. "You can't tell anyone!" Cindy pleaded.

Betty smiled. "Like I said. I won't tell a soul."

"Good. Because if you do; then we'll be the talk of the school and I won't hear the end of 'Jimmy and Cindy sitting in a tree' " Cindy replied as she mimicked the way Butch teased them.

Betty nodded and turned to Nick. "You're hearing this, right Nick?" She asked making sure he knew not to say anything about this.

Luckily for Jimmy and Cindy; Nick was in his own world. He wasn't even paying attention. He was just watching other kids skate. "Huh?" He asked, like he was just snapping out of a trance.

Betty leaned down to whisper something in Cindy's ears. "Nick can be pretty clueless." She then stood back up. "So, are we ready to skate or what?" She asked hoping to brighten their moods.

This had Nick's attention. "Yeah, let's roll."

"You can join us you know, if you want." Betty told Jimmy and Cindy.

So they got up from the bench as Nick skated away. As Jimmy went to join; Cindy walked over to Betty. "Thanks Betty."

"No problem. Like I told you. Neutron's all yours." Betty replied.

They skated off to join their boyfriends. They had a great time and Betty and Nick taught them some new cool moves as they skated on the ramps. Soon it was almost 5.

"Uh, we should get going now Jimmy." Cindy told him. "We have to get ready for the worst night of our life."

He sighed. "Right."

Carl and Elke were at the petting zoo; riding on the lamas. They have already been at the petting zoo for almost a full hour and once they got off the lamas; both Carl and Elke were outside of the lamas' pin.

"Uh Elke, remember when I said I had something really important I wanted to ask you?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. So what is it that you want to ask me?"

He began to feel nervous. What if she turned him down and told him she didn't like him that way anymore? He sighed as he looked down.

Her eyes filled with concern. "Carl, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied blushing. "Uh, you know, their's this dance that's coming up and well I know you're new here and I really don't have a date. So if you want; maybe we could go together." He suggested. "Only if you want too." He added quickly not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

She gasped happily. "Are you asking me to be your date?"

"Well, if you don't want to be my date, we could just go as friends-" He didn't detect the happiness in her voice so when she cut him off with her answer; he was surprised.

"I'd love to be your date!" She gave him a big hug and he wrapped his arms around her, happily. They shared a quick kiss and left the petting zoo; hand in hand. "You know, maybe we could go to the arcade tomorrow. They have my favorite game there; Llama Herding and I know you'll love it too."

"It's a date." She replied.

Speaking of dates. Jimmy and Cindy were in their houses; getting ready for theirs. It was around six fifteen when they got back from the park.

Cindy sighed as she searched her closet for a pretty dress she could wear for her date with Eustace. She couldn't believe she had to look all dolled up for him. But he made his word clear when he called her as soon as she got home. He told her he wanted her to look dazzling for their date and that he wants her outfit to be pink cause he told her she looks best in pink.

She just finished painting her nails pink around 10 minutes ago and she pulled out a pink dress with a light pink boe wrapped around it. It was similar to the dress she wore for her date with Jimmy at the Candy Bar. She found her pair of white holes with fake pink roses on them. It went with the dress perfectly.

She put a pink fake flower in her hair. After that; she put on her lipstick and make up that she used to try and get Jimmy's attention when they were at mars. She put on light pink eye shadow and sprayed herself with that perfume she used when Jimmy was looking through the telescope. He had called the scent of her perfume bewitching and Eustace liked that smell too so she had to spray herself for him too!

Jimmy was looking at his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing the same tuxedo he wore to Jett's wedding, sprayed himself with nice cologne, adjusted his tie and fixed his hair.

They left and Cindy even brought a pink purse. She waited on the sidewalk where Jimmy had his hovercraft. "We better get going, we have ten minutes." He informed her.

She nodded and got in. "Wow, Jimmy you look really charming tonight."

"And you look pretty too and you have on that bewitching scented perfume again." He replied.

It took five minutes for them to arrive Mc Spanky's and they waited for Eustace and Sally to show up.

Eustace and Sally arrived. Eustace had on a red shirt with a black jacket and jeans. He also smelled like cologne. Sally had on a dark blue sparkly dress and light blue high heals.

"Well shall we get ready my fair Cynthia?" He asked in a smooth tone. "I am quite pleased with what you have done with yourself and I like your bewitched scent, lingering perfume." He took her hand and Sally took Jimmy's.

Jimmy and Cindy both glanced at each other miserable about this as their dates took them to their tables.

They happened to be across from each other and that was so Eustace and Sally could make both their victoms misrable and jealous.


	7. Misery at McSpanky's

Jimmy sat miserably at his booth with his hands under his chin as Sally just stared google eyed at him. She was talking about how great she was and how she was the best horse racer ever. No one could ever beat her.

He just sighed as he glanced at Cindy who had a scowl on her face as she listened to Eustace talk about how everything goes his way and money gets you everything.

Sally frowned as she noticed him staring at her enemy. "Come on Jimmy, I want you to be happy. You remember our deal."

He nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately I do." He muttered sarcastically. He just wanted to get this night over with.

"Don't you just love my dress?" She asked him loudly so Cindy could hear. She heard and was jealous but she tried to control herself from going over there and beating the living daylights out of her.

Noticing that Cindy was ignoring her; Sally growled and repeated herself. "I said don't you just love my dress?" She asked even louder.

This not only caused Cindy to turn but other people as well. "Uh you might want to keep it down. People are trying to eat here, you know, in peace." Cindy told her sarcastically.

Sally just shot her a dirty look and turned her attention back on Jimmy. "Compliment me on my dress now?" She hissed in a whispered tone. "And say it like you mean it."

He sighed. "Fine." He forced a smile. It looked lopsided. "I think your dress is really sparkly and nice."

Sally gasped happily. "Oh Jimmy, that is one of the nicest things you have ever said to me!"

Cindy hated to see Jimmy so miserable and that was saying a lot, since she loved to make his life miserable when they were enemies. Instead of being hurt about him complimenting Sally; she was angry with Sally for forcing him to when he obviously didn't want to.

Eustace wanted Cindy to pay attention to him. "Cynthia, my darling. Why so quite? Dazzle me." Eustace told her with his smile she once found charming when she liked him.

She snarled. "You know what I'd really like to do to you right now?" She asked tightening her fists.

"Uh, uh, uh." He said putting his hands up. "Remember what I told you. I want you to have a pleasant attitude on our date otherwise you and Neutron's secret is out."

She forced a smile even though she just wanted to slap him across the face and dump his purple flurp all over him.

"That's more like it. You're such a pretty girl Cynthia. You have great qualities and you're so resourceful and intelligent. You deserve all the fine things in life and you don't deserve a guy like Neutron." He told her.

Jimmy pounded his fists on the table as he heard Eustace tell her this. Eustace grinned wickedly. "What's the matter Neutron? Jealous?" He taunted as he stretched his hand across the table and tried to run it through Cindy's hair but she jerked away.

"Playing hard to get." He commented.

Jimmy jumped up with a perfect comeback. "What's the matter Eustace? Not getting your way?"

"You just stay out of this Neutron!" Eustace yelled, angry about being dissed.

"Yeah." Sally said. "Just stare into my eyes like your hypnotized and tell me that I'm the most beautiful girl you have ever met in your life."

"No!" He snapped causing a few people to gasp startled, including Cindy and Eustace.

"What did you just say?" Sally hated being told no.

"I said-" He froze as the door swung open; revealing Libby and Sheen. "I think you're the most beautiful girl I have ever met in my life." Jimmy lied.

Cindy looked up and saw Libby and Sheen. Cindy fake laughed. "Oh Eustace, that is so hilarious!"

Libby just stared between the two tables. Something strange was going on. Jimmy and Cindy were both here with their dates. She wondered if this was only one of their competitions.

"Oh hi Libs, Sheen. What are you doing here?" Cindy asked, getting up.

"Well Sheen and I decided to just hang here and I see you brought Eustace." Libby pointed.

Cindy forced a laugh. "Yeah. We are going to the dance together."

Eustace smiled. "And I assure you; Cynthia will be treated like the true princess she is." He kissed her hand and she faked a few giggles. "Oh Eustace!"

Jimmy was jealous. "And Sally and I are going to have a great time." He looked at her. "Aren't we Sally.

She smiled. "We sure are Jimmy."

"Cool. Can Ultra Lord sit with us?" Sheen asked Libby who rolled her eyes. "Sheen."

"What?" He asked oblivious with her annoyance.

"Come on." She grabbed his hand and they found a booth to sit at. Once they sat down; Libby couldn't stop staring at Jimmy and Cindy. They didn't look to happy with their dates.

"Sheen, don't you notice something funny around here?" She asked talking about Jimmy and Cindy.

"Uh, that lady's wearing a funny hat." He pointed to an old lady that was walking by. She heard his comment and whacked him on the head with her cane.

"Ow." He said.

"No." Libby replied, turning him around. "Jimmy and Cindy."

"Oh yeah. They're here too with their dates. I don't see anything funny." He was still confused.

She smacked her head annoyed. "Never mind." As she and Sheen ate; she began to think their was something Cindy wasn't telling her. And Cindy told her everything. As she glanced between Cindy and Jimmy; she noticed they seemed miserable with their dates. Almost like they were forced to be their. "Something is definitely up." She said.

"Huh?" Sheen asked.

"Just eat your hamburger." She replied not wanting to explain anything for nothing.

He shrugged. "Okay. I was eating my hamburger. You don't have to be so bossy."

She just rolled her eyes again.

Around 6:42; Jimmy, Cindy, Eustace and Sally finished their hamburgers and fries. Cindy and Jimmy were happy it was over.

"We will go out again Cynthia." Eustace told her.

"And Jimmy, the same for you." Sally told him.

Libby and Sheen were watching from behind a plant. "Uh Libby, why are we spying on Jimmy and Cindy?" He asked.

She covered his mouth. "Because, they are acting weird and I want to know what's up. Now be quiet before our cover is blown."

Jimmy and Cindy watched Sally and Eustace walk out.

Jimmy and Cindy were now facing each other. "Well this has been a horrible night." He told her.

"Yeah. Um remember what you told Sally?" She asked.

He looked confused. "What did I tell her?" He finally realized what she was talking about. "Oh. I only did that because I saw Sheen and Libby."

"I know, I know. I looked as soon as you said that." Cindy replied.

"So is everything cool?" He asked putting out a hand.

She smiled and took his hand. "Everything is cool."

Libby and Sheen shared confused glances and watched as their friends walked out; hand in hand, smiling at each other.

"Come on Sheen, we have a mission." Libby took his hand and they walked over to the door.

"So, is their something you want to tell me?" Cindy asked Jimmy; smiling. "Something that Snothead Sally forced you to say to her."

Jimmy smiled. "You're the most beautiful girl I have ever met in my life." He told her truthfully; looking right into her eyes.

She blushed. "And you're the most intelligent and handsome guy I have ever met in my life. Especially in that tux."

He was flattered. "Well uh thanks."

They shared a smile, wrapped their arms around each other but before their lips even touched; Cindy suddenly pulled away. Libby and Sheen were watching with shock.

Jimmy was concerned. "What's wrong?"

Cindy sighed. "I just hate that we have to keep our relationship a secret like this. I mean, from my mom, the kids at school and Libby. I tell her everything well until she spilled about us playing footsie in the library."

Libby looked down, guilty. It made her feel awful that Cindy couldn't trust her anymore with secrets like this. Sheen was just smiling.

Jimmy nodded as he looked down. "I tell Carl and Sheen everything too. People can't know about us though or we'll be ridiculed."

"And my mom would never approve of us." Cindy looked sad.

"Someday we won't be kids anymore and we won't have to keep our relationship a secret or care what others think and we might even be married someday." He explained trying to see the bright side of things.

She smiled feeling better. "Well we better get going now."

So he lifted her up and they took off on his jet pack.

"Way to go Jimmy!" Sheen cheered with his fists in the air.

Libby was still looking down. "I am such a horrible friend." She didn't mean to humiliate Cindy like that. She just got carried away. She never intended to make her go through that.

Meanwhile Cindy was walking towards her house and watched as Jimmy entered his. She sighed but gasped when she was face to face with her mom."Oh, you're home already?"

"They let me leave earlier today. Where were you young lady? Your piano lesson was at four." Sasha had her arms folded.

Cindy chuckled nervously. "Oh that was today? I forgot. I was just hanging with Libs and-"

"I am tired of you fooling around. Hanging out with Libby can't be more important than being an intelligent young lady, getting perfect grades like you always do and trying to be better than Neutron." Sasha told her.

Cindy's heart beat at the mention of Jimmy. "Mom I-" She was cut off again.

"If hanging with Libby is too much of a distraction and is going to keep you from becoming the best, then maybe you shouldn't hang out with her much.

Cindy gasped. "What? you can't do that! It's not fair!"

"Enough!" Sasha raised her voice which startled Cindy and made her jump back a little. "This discussion is over. Now go to your room. You are grounded for the rest of this week."

Cindy walked inside, went upstairs and in her room. She plopped down on her bed and sighed. She was used to the way her parents treated her; especially her mom. Her dad was barely around since he and Sasha didn't really get along well.

Cindy barely had time for anything fun because of her mother's strict ness. She had to make sure all the homework she did was perfect and that she would get perfect grades on her school work.

Speaking of work; Cindy decided to get started on her homework. It would have been done hours ago if she wasn't out skating with Jimmy; not that she regretted hanging with him. If it weren't for Eustace and Sally; Cindy and Jimmy wouldn't have had to rush their date and she could of done her homework first but better later than never, right?

She unzipped her backpack, took out her homework, a sharpened pencil and an eraser and got started.

* * *

Libby was in her room. She just got home and wanted to call Cindy as soon as possible. She wanted Cindy to be able to trust her again and give her all the deets about she and Jimmy.

She picked up her phone and dialed Cindy's house number. The phone rang about four times till Mrs. Vortex answered. "Hello?"

Libby smiled. "Yes, it's me Libby. May I speak to Cindy?"

"I'm sorry but She's grounded so she will not be speaking to anyone." Sasha replied.

Libby was shocked. "Grounded? Why?"

"For being completely irresponsible about her schedule and slaking off." Sasha hung up on her.

Libby sighed and looked down. She really needed to talk to Cindy. She opened her drawer and got out her cell phone. She dialed Cindy's cell number and waited.

While Cindy was working on a math problem; she felt her phone vibrate and took it out of her pocket. "Hello?"

"Hey Girl. It's me, Libs. We really need to talk."

Cindy sighed. "I'm sorry but I can't. I'm grounded. We're not even supposed to be talking right now; if my mom catches me; I'll get into even more trouble."

"I know but it's really important." Libby replied.

"Okay but for only a minute. I really have to finish my homework." Cindy said; glancing around cautiously.

"Okay, I know that you and-" Before Libby could say what she wanted; the knob on Cindy's door was turning.

"I gotta go." Cindy hung up and put it back in her pocket. Sasha stood out the door with her arms folded. "It's good to see that you're doing your homework like you're supposed to."

Jimmy went in his lab and walked over to the monitor. Their were words flashing on the screen. You have a message.

"I better check this out Godard." Jimmy scrolled down and opened his message box. It was a message from Jet Fusion.

_Jimmy Neutron,_

_I just wanted to tell you that I'm getting married._

_It's not Beautiful Gorgeous, I'm marrying a woman _

_named Cynthia Felters. We've known each other since_

_we were kids and we've been dating for a few weeks._

_I would like for you to attend my wedding and be my best_

_man. Your friends can even tag along. The wedding will be this_

_Friday at around 5:30 pm._

_Your friend,_

_Jet Fusion._

"Mm, it appears that Jet's getting married and wants me to attend. I'm glad it's not that deceitful Beautiful Gorgeous he's marrying. At least it's someone he knows, right?" Jimmy asked Goddard.

Goddard barked.

"I have to tell Carl, Sheen, Libby and Cindy about this." At around nine thirty when Cindy's mom was sleeping; Jimmy left his room and flew to Cindy's balcony using his jet pack.

He lightly tapped on the window to try to wake her up. Cindy wasn't even sleeping. She was just laying on her bed thinking. She turned and saw Jimmy on her balcony. "Jimmy?" She got up, walked over and quietly slid each side open.

"Cindy, I need to tell you something."

"What's going on?" She asked quietly, not wanting to wake up her mom who was across the hall.

"Jet Fusion's having a wedding this Friday and he wants me to attend. It starts at around five thirty in the afternoon and I was wondering if you wanted to come." He explained.

"Well I have nothing planned and my mom will be at work so okay; I'll go." She replied.

He smiled. "Great. I'll tell Carl and Sheen about this tomorrow at school."

She nodded. "And I'll tell Libs." She watched as he flew off and sighed dreamily. She couldn't wait till Friday. She would see him in his tux again.


	8. Friends

The next day, Cindy woke up and went downstairs for breakfast. It was already Wednesday; two more days till Jet's wedding. Her mom already made breakfast and Cindy sat at the table. "Look, I'm sorry if I went a little hard on you. I just want what's best for you." Sasha began to pace. "Anyway, I won't be home till 2 in the morning and I trust that you'll be on your best behavior."

Cindy just nodded; her mind elsewhere. She was wondering about what Libby wanted to tell her. Maybe she would find out at school. After finishing breakfast, she got ready for school, grabbed her back pack and headed out the door.

On the bus; she sat next to Libby. "So what was it you wanted to tell me last night?"

"I can't tell you here." Libby replied.

Cindy was confused. "Why not?"

"Cause it's personal." Libby sighed. "I tried calling but your mom told me you were grounded so I dialed your cell number."

"I had to hang up, my mom was coming. Sorry about that." Cindy apologized.

"It's okay. When does your mom come back from work? Maybe I could come over and we could talk." Libby suggested.

"Well my mom's not coming home till 2 in the morning cause her work schedule was changed." Cindy explained.

Libby smiled. "Great. We could even have a little girl party. I feel like we haven't been hanging out much."

Cindy felt a little guilty. The last time they really spent any girl time together was last Wednesday when she was talking non stop about Jimmy. The day before they were asked to be a part of the kids' news.

Jimmy felt bad too about not hanging with his friends as much. Maybe they could do something together after school. They could go to Retroland, have desert at the Candy Bar and go bowling. He knew he had to be wise about his plans because he would have to go out with Sally again.

When Cindy was heading towards the building; Eustace walked over. "Quite a lovely morning, isn't it Cynthia?" He asked putting an arm around her.

She pushed him away. "Don't touch me."

"Fine." Eustace smiled. "I'll just tell everyone about you and Jimmy."

She gulped. "Uh, what were you saying about it being a wonderful morning?" She asked, pretending that she never pushed him away.

He smiled and put his arm around her again.

Jimmy was walking with his friends. "Um, I know we haven't been spending much time together because I've been busy in my lab but maybe after school we could hang out." He told them.

Carl smiled. "Sounds great Jimmy. So where are we going?"

"We could go to Retroland, hang at the candy bar and go bowling." Jimmy replied.

"That's awesome Jimmy but aren't you going to be blowing off your plans with Cindy?" Sheen asked. He immediately covered his mouth when he realized what he said. "Oops."

Both Jimmy and Carl looked shocked; especially Jimmy. "What plans with Cindy? What are you talking about? I don't have any plans with Cindy." He said, rather too quickly; his face turning red.

"Just forget I said anything." Sheen replied.

"You just said I'd be blowing off my plans with Cindy! What would make you think I have plans with Cindy? That would mean we're dating and that would be ridiculous because we hate each other." Jimmy was still caught off guard by what Sheen said.

"If you hate each other; than why did you kiss her?" Carl asked.

Jimmy's eyes went wide. "What?"

"I saw you two in that alley. You took her hands and kissed her." Carl went on. "Then you walked off holding hands and smiling at each other. I thought it was kind of sweet."

Jimmy's face turned even redder; that it almost looked like a tomato.

"Yeah. then their was that time when we were at mars. You told her you thought she was pretty, smart, smells nice and that she kinda distracts you sometimes." Sheen explained.

"Well I um, that was just uh, did you have to bring that up?" Jimmy asked embarrassed.

"You like her Jimmy." Carl playfully teased.

"And you're dating and kept it a secret from us. Why?" Sheen cried. "For the love of Ultra Lord! Why didn't you tell us!"

"I'm sorry Sheen. I should have told you guys. I just don't want anyone to know about us. You remember how kids teased me and Cindy last Friday because of Libby's news?" Jimmy asked.

Carl and Sheen nodded.

"Well if people find out we're dating; then our lives are over." Jimmy replied; talking about he and Cindy's lives. "Eustace and Sally know about us and we have to do whatever they say. Eustace also saw me kiss Cindy in that alley and Sally was mad because I rejected her. He recruited her." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I have some great news. Jet Fusion is getting married this Friday and I get to be best man. How would you guys like to come?"

Carl and Sheen were excited.

The friends entered the building. "So Carl, how was your date with Elke?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh it was awesome Jimmy. We rode the lamas, sat at a fountain holding hands, pet the lamas; then I asked her to the dance and she said yes!" Carl explained excitedly.

"That's great Carl. Both you and Sheen are going to have an awesome time." Jimmy was really happy for his friends.

"You would have an awesome time too Jimmy, if you didn't care what the others think." Sheen replied.

Jimmy looked down at the floor and sighed; knowing Sheen was right. Elke walked over to Carl and he smiled as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheeks.

"Hey Elke." Jimmy greeted.

"Hi Jimmy, Sheen." She replied.

"How would you like to come with us to Jet Fusion's wedding this Friday?" Carl asked.

She smiled. "I'd love to go."

The bell rang and Jimmy and Sheen watched as Carl and Elke headed for class; holding hands. Libby walked over to Sheen, he took her hand and they headed for class.

Jimmy and Cindy were left alone. They glanced at each other awkwardly, really wishing they could walk to class holding hands too. "I um," Cindy began awkwardly.

"Yeah." Jimmy said sounding just as awkward.

They just walked to class separately. Sally and Eustace smirked as they saw Jimmy and Cindy enter the classroom. Miss. Fowl began to teach. She also told all the students that the dance was in sixteen days. Libby and Sheen shared a smile, Carl and Elke shared a smile and Jimmy and Cindy looked down at their desks.

The bell rang and the students went out for recess. Cindy spotted Libby talking to Britney who was holding a pink jump rope and rushed over. "Wait up guys!"

"Hey Cindy." Britney said.

Cindy played jump rope with them again; then they played hopscotch. Jimmy was playing baseball with Carl, Sheen and other kids.

After school, at Cindy's house; she and Libby were talking in her room. "Well it's as private as it gets." Cindy told her, closing the curtains on the window. "So what were you trying to tell me?"

Libby sighed. "Remember when we were at McSpanky's?"

"Yeah." Cindy replied in a 'get on with it' tone.

"Well," Libby swallowed. "Sheen and I saw you and Jimmy walk out together, holding hands and we heard your conversation."

Cindy's mouth was agape and her eyes went wide. The guilt she was feeling last night came back. "Libs, I'm so sorry, I-"

Libby shook her head. "No I'm the one who's sorry. I don't blame you for not telling me."

Cindy was surprised. "You don't?"

"You told me everything and you trusted me with your secrets about you and Jimmy. And what did I do? I reported about you two playing footsie in the library. I'm really sorry I betrayed you like that and made you feel like you can't tell me about your relationship." Libby replied.

Cindy smiled. "It's okay Libs. I might have told you eventually."

"So how did it happen?" Libby asked excitedly, dying to hear the deets about their relationship.

"Well," Cindy began, more than happy to tell her. "Remember when you walked off with Sheen? Well Jimmy took my hands and he kissed me!"

Libby gasped happily. "No way!"

"He was about to walk off, then I took his hand and he smiled at me so I smiled back; then he offered to walk me home and I said yes!" Cindy exclaimed. "Then on Saturday; he came over and told me he likes me and asked if we could be a couple and I said yes; then he asked me out on a date and we went to Retroland!"

"Then what happened?" Libby asked wanting to hear more.

"We were gonna go on the Octopuke but Butch was there so we went on the Microscopic thriller. After that we went on the Illusion Grasp. Butch was there but we decided to go anyway. He began to tease us so Jimmy and I shared a chaste kiss just to freak him out. Then we went on the Dragon; the ride that Jimmy and I almost kissed on once! We went in the arcade and Nick was there so Jimmy and I pretended to argue. We went on the Thunderstorm Fusion and we had cotton candy when we were getting ready to leave and he lifted me up and took me home using his jet pack." Cindy continued.

"Then the next day we went to the Candy Bar and had a giant ice cream sundae and shared a tropical shake. We went to a skating rink, bowling; then we went to the park, and at sunset; we sat in a tree, holding hands and smiled as we enjoyed the sunset." She sighed dreamily.

"It was so romantic and spontaneous! And then the next day in class; we passed notes and I'm his pretty Cindy!" She giggled. "He is such a hunk muffin!"

She sighed. "The only reason we're going to the dance with Eustace and Sally is because they blackmailed us. Eustace saw Jimmy kiss me in that alley and has been stalking Jimmy ever since. He followed us on our dates. He knows how much we want to keep our relationship a secret so he's using that against us and Sally likes Jimmy. That fink has her in on this too!"

"So you're just gonna let these two push you guys' around?" Libby asked.

"We have to Libs or he's gonna expose our relationship!" Cindy exclaimed. "Please promise you won't tell anyone."

Libby smiled. "I promise." She replied truthfully.

Cindy returned the smile.

Jimmy went to Retroland with Carl and Sheen. They went on the Octopuke and puked. It was wicked awesome! They went on the Illusion Grasp, the dragon, the Bat Outta Heck ride, they went on the bumping cars; played the games in the arcade, watched a magic show while they ate hot dogs and drank purple flurp.

"Well we had a really great time Jimmy." Carl told him.

Jimmy smiled. "Me too you guys."

The next day; Eustace continued to bother and flirt with Cindy and Sally did the same with Jimmy.

The day after that; it was finally Friday; the day of Jet's wedding. Jimmy and Cindy were leaving the building and Sally and Eustace walked over.

Sally draped her arms around Jimmy while Eustace wrapped his around Cindy's waist. She looked disgusted. "So Cynthia, their's this ball at around five and I'd love for you to come."

"And I want you to accompany me to this ball as well." Sally told Jimmy.

Jimmy and Cindy looked relieved. This ball was at five and the wedding was at five thirty. That meant they would only have to put up with these two losers for thirty minutes.

"Okay but we can't stay for long because we have to attend a friend's wedding." Jimmy replied happily.

Cindy nodded smiling.

Eustace grinned. "Don't worry; that's all the time we'll need."

At five, Jimmy and Cindy arrived the ball. It was a very nice and fancy place. Eustace took Cindy's hand and led her to a table while Sally took Jimmy's hand.

"You look lovely my Cynthia." Eustace told her, flirting. Jimmy and Sally were at a table a few inches away from their's and Jimmy looked disgusted seeing Eustace flirt with Cindy.

She was gritting her teeth. "Stop calling me Cynthia."

"I'll call you what I want or your secret is out." He threatened. "And you will treat me with respect and follow my demands."

A nice and slow song began to play and Sally gasped. "Oh Jimmy, I love this song! Let's dance!" She pulled him up from his chair and they started dancing.

"What would a ball be without a nice romantic dance?" Eustace asked, taking Cindy's hand.

She and Jimmy glanced at each other as they were dancing with their dates, unwillingly.

* * *

In Jimmy's lab; Goddard was near the monitor and it began to beep. That meant something terrible was happening. Goddard pressed a button and a man appeared on the screen. He was apart of a secret spy program. "Neutron, if you're listening; something terrible has happened to Jet's bride. She didn't show up at the wedding and we tried locating her. She has been kidnapped, Jet tried to save her but was easily beaten. Hurry!"

Goddard barked; knowing he had to get to Jimmy.

* * *

A few minutes passed and Jimmy and Cindy's partner's were getting too intimate with them. Jimmy and Cindy were very uncomfortable.

Eustace leaned in trying to kiss Cindy but she pulled away. "What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Come on my love, kiss me." He tried to kiss her again and Jimmy's eyes widened. Sally tried to get him to kiss her but he pushed her away.

Cindy tightly shut her eyes as Eustace's lips were nearing her's. She couldn't push him away this time. His grip around her waist had tightened. Before his lips touched hers, he jerked away in pain. Jimmy had zapped him with his zap watch. "That's enough Eustace, get away from my girlfriend."

"Jimmy." Cindy said, realizing why Eustace jolted. She was relieved and shocked at the same time. Jimmy was staring at Eustace with anger and hatred.

Sally grabbed Jimmy and pulled him closer, trying to kiss him again. Cindy's shock quickly turned into anger. "That does it!" She jumped high in the air, flipped over and knocked Sally down. "Hiyah!"

Jimmy was happy to be released from Sally and impressed with Cindy's martial arts. "Cindy."

Cindy grabbed Sally by the collar of her dress. "Stay away from my hunk muffin!" She kicked Sally again.

Eustace was angry and ran towards Jimmy. Jimmy zapped him repeatedly while Cindy and Sally got into a physical fight. Sally dunked Cindy's head into a punch bowl and Cindy kicked her away. She picked up the punch bowl and dumped the punch all over Sally.

Sally was angry and began to scream. "You ruined my dress!" She charged at Cindy who ducked causing her to trip over her.

Jimmy smiled seeing Eustace unconscious and Sally too weak to get up. "We are done." He told Sally who just screamed in reply.

"You are so dead Vortex!" Sally yelled. "Both of you are so dead! Enjoy the next two days of your life but by Monday; it is over!"

Jimmy and Cindy glanced at each other. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am now." He replied glancing at Eustace who was still knocked out. "How about you?"

"I'm good."

Goddard arrived and Jimmy rushed over; followed by Cindy.

"Goddard! What is it boy?" He asked.

Goddard barked and played the guy's message on his monitor.

"Oh no!" Jimmy panicked. "We have to get out of here Cindy. The bride has been kidnaped, or bridenaped." He took her hand and they left the ball.

They got in the hovercraft and Jimmy took off.


	9. A mission and Jet's wedding

Jimmy, Cindy and Goddard got out of the hovercraft as soon as they arrived Jimmy's lab. He used a piece of his hair to gain access to the lab. Cindy and Goddard followed him inside. "Okay, I'm gonna need to gather some of my inventions that will be useful for this situation were in." Jimmy told them.

"Right, and I'll just use my martial arts on whoever these goons are." Cindy replied.

"We're gonna have to be careful. We don't have any idea who we're going to be dealing with. She was taken to an abandoned warehouse by some crazy man by the name of Gizmo Vinchyke and his associate...Beautiful Gorgeous."He explained.

"Beautiful Gorgeous?" Cindy asked surprised. "I thought she was in jail."

"She must have escaped. We have to hurry. It's already almost six." He pushed a table and under it was a floor door with a pole that led to Jimmy's inner santom\lab.

"Should we call Libs and the others and inform them about this?" She asked.

"That's it!" Jimmy exclaimed, getting an idea.

She looked confused. "What's it?"

"Remember the time when we got super powers?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied, still confused.

"Well that day, I created antidotes that contains the powers we had but the abilities are only temporary and last a few hours." He told her.

"Awesome, we should have these goons demolished and brought to justice in no time." She replied. "Just wait till I tell Libs about this." She took out her phone and dialed Libby's number.

Libby was at the wedding with Sheen, Carl and Elke and felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out. "Hello?"

_"Hey Libs."_

"Cindy? Where are you girl? Where are you and Jimmy?"

Jimmy took the phone from Cindy. "Libby, it's an emergency. Jet's bride has been taken hostage by some mad man named Gizmo Vinchyke! Cindy and I are in the hovercraft on our way!"

They hung up.

"What's going on?" Elke asked.

"Cindy and Jimmy are on their way. The bride has been taken hostage and Jet tried to save her." Libby explained.

Jimmy, Cindy and Goddard showed up. "Quick, get in!" Jimmy ordered. So their friends got in the hovercraft and he took off. "Take a drink out of these." He told Carl, Sheen and Libby; handing them each a vile. Jimmy and Cindy had already drank from their viles before they left his lab.

"What is it?" Carl asked.

"It contains the super powers we all had last time." Jimmy replied. "I'm sorry you don't have one Elke. Welcome to our group."

She smiled. "That's okay and thanks."

Carl, Sheen and Libby drank from the viles.

"I already feel the awesomeness of my super ability kicking in." Sheen said excitedly.

At the warehouse, Jet and Cynthia were both locked in cages. She had blond hair tied up, crystal blue eyes and was dressed in a wedding dress. She almost looked like a grown up version of Cindy, except for the blue eyes. Jet was in his tuxedo again.

Gizmo had dark brown hair and was dressed in a business suit. He had a smug on his face as he watched his prisoners try to struggle from their restraints. He even had them tied with ropes; incase they were able to escape the cages.

He was a very rich man and came from a very rich family. He was taught that money buys everything and can easily bribe people in order to get out of trouble or whatever he wants. He kidnapped Cynthia because he and Jet were mortal enemies and he knew Jet would try to save her.

Beautiful Gorgeous laughed evilly. She wanted to marry Jet because he was very rich and she also kind of liked him; despite using him last time. "You will marry me Jet; I'll get all your money and I'll be filthy rich."

"Never!" He replied. If it was months ago; he probably would of jumped at the chances of marrying her. He still remembered about how she tricked him. "As beautiful as you are; the beautiful lady I want to marry is in the cage next to mine."

Cynthia smiled at him and Beautiful Gorgeous growled angrily. She found their mushyness disgusting. "So sweet." She cooed sarcastically. "Too bad she's gonna die." She pressed a button and a pool of lava appeared under Cynthia's cage. Gizmo walked over chuckling.

"We'll see about that Beautiful Gorgeous!" Jimmy replied. Cindy, Libby, Carl, Sheen and Elke were behind him.

Beautiful Gorgeous just laughed and she was a bit surprised to see Jimmy orange. "And what are a bunch of kids gonna do to stop us?"

"This." Cindy replied. She flipped over and flew towards her and Gizmo who looked shocked. Cindy knocked them down.

Gizmo activated an alarm switch and lots of his minions showed up. They were androids. "Get them!" He ordered.

"Cindy, look out!" Jimmy warned as the guards were nearing her. She spun around, kicked and punched them. They were no match for her.

Jimmy reached for the button Beautiful Gorgeous recently had. "I've got to close that lava pit." He told himself.

"Oh, I don't think so Orange boy." She insulted as she flipped him over.

Cindy gasped. "Jimmy!"

Libby turned invisible and created a force fields to block the androids attacks. They collapsed on top of each other as the barrier shocked them.

Sheen was dashing around the androids that were after them; causing them to become dizzy. "Fear the wrath of Ultra Sheen!" He exclaimed.

Carl's super burping ability knocked his attackers against the walls. Elke was just watching her friends fight the villains since she had no powers to join.

Beautiful Gorgeous continued to insult Jimmy who was laying on the ground defenseless. Gizmo joined in. Jimmy had to get angry in order to become monstrous again. "What can you really do for the team? You're just a powerless orange boy and you smell fruity." Gizmo told him.

"Jimmy! You have to get angry." Cindy said while fighting another batch of androids.

"That's a good one." Beautiful Gorgeous said; replying to Gizmo's insult. "What a useless power you have. You might as well turn into an orange; Orange boy!"

Jimmy was getting angry. "Quit calling me Orange boy!" He began to transform into his monster form again. "Grown ups no nice to Jimmy, now Jimmy smash." He slammed the ground with his fists and Carl, Elke and Sheen ran out.

Cindy flew over to Libby who turned Cindy and herself invisible. Cindy lifted her up, flew over to Jet's cage with a key and unlocked it. Next she unlocked Cynthia's cage and Jimmy aimed his zap watch at her and Jet and zapped their ropes. He then used the button to close the lava pool. The villains were defeated and brought to jail.

Jimmy was no longer a monster.

"You saved us." Cynthia said, greatful.

"Yeah, you were cool." Jet agreed.

The kids smiled.

"No problem. We'll drive you to the wedding." Jimmy replied.

The 6 friends were back in the hovercraft with Jet and Cynthia. "So how did you two meet?" Cindy asked curiously.

"Well," Jet began. "We were around your age, a little younger. We were rivals. We couldn't stand each other and she'd always insult and pick on me. Then one day I realized I liked her. Even though we fought a lot; we still had moments where we got along well. My real name is James, by the way."

Jimmy was fascinated by his story. "Wow, your relationship is like me and Cindy's. Also our names are similar."

Cynthia began to speak. "One day we decided to date. It was sometime in sixth grade but we wanted to keep our relationship a secret because we were afraid of what the kids would think and also his parents didn't like me very much."

Jimmy and Cindy shared a look; thinking the same thing. "So what happened?" He asked curiously.

"One day we decided that we were tired of being secretive and didn't care what people thought anymore." Cynthia replied.

Jet nodded. "Sometimes when you really like someone; it doesn't matter what others think; what matters is that you're happy."

Jimmy and Cindy thought about his words and their relationship. He was surprised that his favorite hero had gone through something similar he was going through.

Jet and Cynthia dated for a few years and broke up sometime during their freshmen year. They dated different people and remained friends. When High School finished; they graduated and went their separate directions. They just reunited a few weeks ago at a grocery store and that's around the time they started dating again.

Gizmo Vinchyke was Cynthia's x boyfriend. They dated for around three years but she was secretly getting tired of him cause he cared more about himself and the money more than her. She really wanted to break up with him during their second year together but he was very short tempered and she really didn't want to put up with that either.

The reason he held her for hostage was because she finally dumped him after she reunited with Jet. Gizmo was angry and threw a huge tantrum and she told him what she really thought about him and how she can't be with someone who's so selfish, uncaring and bratty whenever things didn't go his way.

He swore he'd have his revenge on her for being dumped and when he found out that she started dating Jet, shortly after dumping him; he was really jealous and knew Jet was mostly the reason that Cynthia finally dumped him.

Jimmy and his friends arrived the wedding and the six friends were in the front row sitting next to their love interests. Libby next to Sheen and Elke next to Carl.

Jimmy and Cindy were in the front where Jet and Cynthia were. The priest pronounced them husband and wife and they shared a romantic kiss.

Jimmy and Cindy shared a smile as they watched them. "Someday, that's gonna be us Jimmy." She told him.

He blushed.

Jet and Cynthia shared a romantic dance along with other grown up couples.

Cindy sat at a table and Libby walked over. "Are you okay girl?"

"Yeah," Cindy replied. "Um, we sort of rejected Eustace and Sally."

"What happened?" Libby asked in an excited tone; happy that they weren't allowing themselves to be treated like that anymore.

"Well Eustace tried to kiss me, twice and Jimmy was really jealous so he zapped Eustace with his zap watch and Sally tried to kiss Jimmy so I got really angry and let her have it." Cindy explained.

Jimmy was walking over as Cindy explained this to Libby. "Let's just say they weren't too happy." He finished.

"That means everyone at school will know about you two." Libby said.

He and Cindy nodded.

Libby felt bad for them. "Aw. I'm sorry guys."

He shrugged. "It's cool. I was getting tired of Eustace anyway."

Cindy smiled. "And I am sick of Sally."

They held hands and Libby smiled. "Well I'm happy for you guys. Just don't get too mushy around me now or turn into one of those sick lovey dovey couples you see on TV."

"We'll try to bicker every now and then just like the good old times." He replied with a mischievous grin. He and Cindy picked a good topic to argue about as they and their friends left and climbed in the hovercraft.

After dropping Carl, Sheen, Libby and Elke off at their houses; he drove to Cindy's house and hovered over her balcony. She got out and went in her room and he took off.

The next day; it was once again Saturday and Jimmy and Cindy wanted to celebrate their one week anniversary of being boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Okay it's 5:30, we've been going out for exactly a week now." He told her.

She smiled. "So where should we go?"

"Well we could go to Retroland again." He replied with a wide grin.

"Sounds great." She took his hand.

So they went to Retroland for their anniversary. They went on the rides and when they walked in the arcade; they saw Sheen playing the Ultra Lord game and Libby watching with boredom. "Oh hey guys!" He greeted.

"Come on Sheen, you've played this game too many times to even count. Can we move on to something else now?" Libby asked.

"Not until I beat my high score." He replied.

She groaned.

Carl and Elke were taking turns playing the Llama game.

Jimmy and Cindy played a shooting game, racing games, a dancing game. After 30 minutes of playing the games; they left the arcade, sat at a table for two and had pizza pie, hot dogs, french fries with ketchup and purple flurp.

"Here's to a wonderful anniversary." She said, lifting her soda can.

"A wonderful anniversary." He replied, lifting his up and bumping it with hers.

The next day at around 3; they went to the indoor skating rink again and nice 80's, 90's freestyle music was playing in the background. Nick and Betty were there too.

Jimmy and Cindy decided to invite their friends.

Elke sighed as she and Carl were about to enter the building. "Carl, I have a confession." She sighed. "I don't know how to skate."

He smiled. "Don't worry, I'll show you."

Sheen just ran in excitedly; pulling Libby with him. "Come on Libs! This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Okay. Calm down Sheen." She grinned. "At least they have good taste in music."

"I'm so glad you guys could come." Jimmy told Sheen, Libby, Carl and Elke.

Cindy and Libby high fived.

The 6 friends skated until 4, then they sat at a table and had hamburgers with french fries and purple flurps. Sheen started belching and Jimmy, Carl and Elke laughed.

"Why do you boys have to be so disgusting?" Libby wondered before laughing along; followed by Cindy.

Soon they were all belching and spitting out their drinks from laughing and acting silly. After that; they continued skating.

At around 5:30, they left the building and found a nice alley to hang in. Libby called her mom to pick her up and Carl and Sheen's parents came to pick them up. Elke was going with Carl cause her mom was busy at work.

"This was fun!" Elke exclaimed.

"Tomorrow's Monday." Libby told Cindy and Jimmy reminding them about what they'd be in for tomorrow. They weren't even thinking about Monday until now. They nodded, understanding what they'd have to put up with.

After their friends left; Jimmy and Cindy decided to go back inside and skate for another hour. "So tomorrow everyone's gonna know about us Jimmy."

He nodded. "Yeah."

She nodded.

At six; they went to the Candy Bar and shared a giant fudge sundae and a tropical smoothie. After that, they hung out at the park for an hour and he took her home. "I had a great time Jimmy."

He smiled. "Me too." He cleared his throat. "So I guess we'll see each other tomorrow at school?" He knew things were gonna be different since their secret would be out and she knew too.

"See you tomorrow." She replied.

They shared a hug and she smiled as she watched him walk home. She walked in the house and went upstairs. What she didn't know was that her mother pulled up in the drive way and saw Jimmy walk off. She didn't see them hug but she saw the smile on her daughter's face watching that Jimmy boy walk home.

Sasha shrugged off the suspicion she was feeling and figured Cindy probably pulled another one of her clever pranks on him or she just won a bet they had made. Oh if Sasha knew how wrong she was.

She walked to the door, turned the knob and entered the house; glancing around. "Cynthia darling, I'm home!" She went upstairs and walked in her daughter's room. "Cindy."

Cindy was at her computer typing. "Oh hey mom."

Sasha cleared her throat. "So what did that Jimmy kid want?"

Cindy seemed to look surprised for a moment and off guard. "Huh?" The way she laughed made Sasha's suspicions return. It sounded forceful and fake. "Oh he just wanted to show off one of his cool inventions." Cindy lied.

"Well okay. Now you get ready for bed; you have a hard day at school tomorrow." Sasha left the room and Cindy sighed with relief.

When Cindy finished typing her essay; she printed it out and put it in her back pack. She was kind of excited about school; despite the possible humiliation. She would get to help create decorations for the dance that was next Friday and help come up with a good theme for it.

Monday morning arrived and she waited for the bus. She sat next to Libby and they began to talk about the dance. "I still think the theme should be Don't Stop The Funk." Libby told her. "Or Get Your Groove On."

Cindy nodded. "Sounds good Libs. I bet the dance would be fantastic if they use your contributions."

"You seem to be in a good mood for someone who's about to be ridiculed." Libby said surprised by how happy Cindy seemed to be.

"Oh I haven't even thought about that." Cindy exclaimed happily.

Libby was very concerned. "Are you sure you're going to be okay."

"Yeah I'll be fine Libs. I would vomit if I had to go out with Eustace doofus again." Cindy replied.

"Okay but we'll all walk in together so you won't be alone." Libby explained talking about their friends.

Once they arrived the school; the kids pushed pass one another and rushed in the building. Jimmy was next to Cindy and they both looked a little nervous. "Are you ready for this?" He asked putting out a hand.

She glanced around and looked back at him. "Yeah, I'm ready." She replied taking his hand.


	10. The secret is out

In the building, Eustace and Sally were standing behind lockers. They arrived before any of the other kids and Eustace had every single picture of Jimmy and Cindy with him. Sally and Eustace couldn't wait to see the humiliated and defeated looks on their faces.

"Attention my fellow school mates!" He said, getting everyone's attention."I have some interesting news to tell you. It's about our friends Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex." He took out some pictures. "Well they have been secretly dating for 9 days now! I have taken pictures for proof."

Kids rushed over and he showed them all the pictures. Kids began to snicker and laugh which caused Eustace and Sally to grin. "Now, now, save the laughter for their arrival." He told the students.

Butch laughed. "I knew they were dating and I wasn't going crazy!"

Jimmy and Cindy just walked up the steps with their friends behind them. The nervous couple drew in deep breaths. This was it. Libby tapped Cindy's shoulder. "Are you sure you're ready for this? We can just turn around right now, fake sick and ditch this joint."

"No Libs, we have to do this. Let's give them something to really laugh about." Cindy replied. She slowly turned the knob and opened the door. She took Jimmy's hand again and they walked in with their friends still behind them.

The kids gasped as they saw Jimmy and Cindy enter; holding hands. Sally and Eustace smiled seeing the nervous looks on their faces and it wasn't long till the kids erupted into laughter and pointed at them.

The only ones who weren't laughing at them were Betty and Nick. Betty felt bad for them and Nick was still shocked but then he started laughing as well causing Betty to elbow him. "Nick!"

"Ow."

"That's right, It's Lindberg Elementary's love birds; Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex!" Eustace exclaimed. "How ridiculous! Who would have even thought possible? Two rivals constantly at each other's throats; falling in love. Laugh with me everyone! Laugh with me!" He began to laugh his insayin laugh and everyone joined in.

Jimmy and Cindy glanced at each other; their cheeks turning red. Their grip on each other's hands tightened. Everyone's attention was on them and it wasn't good attention. They couldn't back out of this now.

The secret was out. Everyone knew about them and it wasn't just about playing footsie in the library. This was more than that and kids would be taunting them for a long time.

"Jimmy and Cindy sitting in a tree!" Butch taunted as he pointed at them. This time Cindy didn't even bother to knock him down.

What happened next, shocked everyone; especially Eustace and Sally. Betty smiled as she saw what happened. "It's about time." She said to herself. She was happy that they didn't care what others thought anymore.

Jimmy had wrapped his hands around Cindy's waist and in turn; she wrapped hers around his neck; then they shared a long kiss. When their lips touched; it was like the taunts of the students were drowned out, it felt like it was just the two of them and like time had stopped. The nervousness was gone and they felt free and even their friends were shocked seeing them kiss in a place where others were teasing them.

The kiss was seven seconds long; around the same time the bell rang. They pulled apart, shared a smile and held hands as they headed for class not caring about any murmurs or remarks from the other students.

"Maybe this wasn't so bad after all." She told Jimmy.

"Yeah, I'm just glad we don't have to keep things a secret anymore." He replied.

"Me too." She agreed.

Eustace and Sally just stood where they were; completely baffled by what just happened. "What was that?" Sally asked, upset by the unexpected result their taunting had on Cindy and Jimmy.

Students headed for their class. Lots were murmuring confused about Jimmy and Cindy's relationship and others just gossiped.

"No!" Eustace yelled with rage. He began to kick the locker like mad repeatedly yelling "No!" He couldn't believe his plan had backfired.

Sally was very angry and let out a loud piercing scream. Jimmy and Cindy were supposed to be miserable not a happy couple holding hands.

In the class room; Jimmy and Cindy took their seats and students were talking until Miss. Fowl entered the class. "Good morning class. Now stop chattering and let's get started."

Everyone groaned. Miss. Fowl noticed how happy her two smartest students seemed. That was because they had nothing to hide anymore. They even scooted their desks a little closer which confused Miss. Fowl. When she was writing on the black board again; Jimmy and Cindy began to pass notes again.

_Wanna go skating again and we could go to the Candy Bar at around 6 my pretty Cindy- Jimmy_

She lightly giggled, covering her mouth as she read the pretty Cindy part. She began to write on a piece of paper and put it on his desk.

_Of course Hunk muffin. It's not like I have anything better to do anyways- Cindy_

He opened it and smiled at her. She smiled back and they got lost in each other's eyes for about a minute until Miss. Fowl's yelling snapped them out of it. "Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex, quit staring into each other's eyes dreamily and answer the question!"

"Huh?" They asked in unison. Their cheeks turned red as the class erupted into laughter.

"What question?" Jimmy asked.

Miss. Fowl sighed. "For the fifth time; what's 12,00142 X 48,00032?"

"Uh, pretty, pretty Cindy." He replied in a goofy love struck tone.

Cindy covered her mouth as she giggled.

Miss. Fowl was confused. "What has gotten into you two?"

"They're love birds!" Butch exclaimed, pointing at them and the others laughed except for Sally and Eustace who were subtly enraged.

Soon it was time for Recess and Jimmy and Cindy left the class; holding hands. In the halls, they were arguing about who's fault it was that the other got distracted. Cindy was the one who started the argument.

She was thinking about how her mother would be disappointed and suspicious if she keeps getting distracted in class. "This is all your fault Neutron!" She blurted out, pointing a finger at his chest accusingly.

He looked completely confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Grades are very important to me and you know it! If my mom ever finds out about how I got distracted like that; she is going to murder me!" She explained panicking.

"This isn't my fault, it's your fault!" He argued.

"My fault! How's it my fault?" She asked.

"Well maybe if you weren't so distracting and didn't have such pretty, gorgeous, vivid; emerald green eyes; I wouldn't have gotten distracted in the first place!"

"Yeah? Well you're the one that had me distracted first by your piercing blue eyes!" She argued back.

"If I remember correctly, I believe it was me who got lost in your eyes first!" He insisted.

"Ugh, you just always have to be right, don't you Neutron? I was there Jimmy, I know exactly what happened!"

"I was there too Cindy!"

"Well you obviously weren't! Anyone could see that it was me who was captivated by your enchanting eyes first!" She got in his face.

"Nu uh!" He got in her face too and they went back and forth.

"Uh huh."

"Nu uh."

"Uh huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Uh huh!"

They immediately stopped when they realized they were close enough for their lips to touch. "Uh," He began.

She nodded. "Right. I guess it doesn't really matter who distracted who first."

He blushed. "To the playground?" He asked in a goofy tone.

She smiled. "Right behind you."

While they walked outside; the argument started again. "I still say it was me who got lost in your emerald eyes first." He told her, grinning.

"Neutron! You silver sly pointy headed devil! For the last time; you had me distracted first!"

"Nu uh."

"Fine then; why don't we just ask Libby, Carl, Sheen and Elke?" She asked challengingly.

"Fine, let's ask them." He replied.

"What's the matter Neutron? Afraid I'm right?"

"I'm not afraid of anything Vortex! I know I'm right." He insisted.

"Just because you're a big headed genius, doesn't mean that you're always right!" She retorted.

"You know, this whole argument is stupid." He said.

"Well you're the one who resumed it!" She replied.

"It doesn't matter!" He cried out frustrated.

"I think it does." She folded her arms.

Sally had watched them walk outside with jealousy and hatred. She growled and clenched her hands in a fist. Eustace stomped over making angry sounds. "No! No! No! How could my plan just backfire like this!" He kicked a locker with his foot, really hard and yelled with pain. "Ow! My foot! My foot! My foot! Curses! blasted locker! That blasted Neutron! How dare he thwart me!"

He suddenly grinned like he was just thinking of a clever plan. "Hm, I don't think Cynthia's mom would be happy to know that her daughter is dating that blasted Neutron." He clasped his hands looking wicked. He could tell that Cindy was keeping her relationship with Jimmy a secret from her mother. Well that was going to change.

Jimmy and Cindy found their friends on the black top. "Guys!" They shouted out of breath. "Guys."

"Um, Libby, out of curiosity, was it me or Jimmy who got distracted first?" Cindy asked.

"I say it was me who was distracted first. Tell her Carl and Sheen!" Jimmy told them.

"Actually, you were both distracted at the same time." Libby replied.

Jimmy and Cindy's cheeks were red and they glanced at each other, realizing just how pointless their argument really was. "Oh." They said.

"Sorry guys." He apologized rubbing the back of his hair nervously.

She faked a chuckle. "Just carry on with what you were doing." She took his hand and they ran off leaving their friends confused.

"What just happened?" Sheen asked.

Libby shrugged. "I have no idea. Probably just another one of their stupid and pointless arguments."

"But they're a couple now, I don't get it." He was still confused.

"So? How many times have Jimmy and Cindy fought before? Where were you all those times? Just because they're coupled up now doesn't mean it's gonna be all lovey dovey, 24/7. They have like been at each other's throats for two years and they're so used to arguing so much that it's not just gonna stop." She explained.

Sheen scratched his head. "Still not getting it."

The day went by smoothly and Jimmy and Cindy paid no mind to the other students and their taunts. They continued passing notes during class; careful not to get caught or too distracted and they'd share a smile as Fowl lectured the class.

When school was out all the kids rushed out of their classrooms; excited and Jimmy and Cindy left, holding hands.

Eustace and Sally had evil smirks as they watched their victims. "You won't be too happy for long; especially when Mrs. Vortex finds out." He said to himself.

"And Jimmy will go to the dance with me." Sally twirled around happily.

On the bus; Cindy and Jimmy were sitting together, flirting. Once the bus stopped in their neighborhood; they both got off and headed for the skating rink. At six; they went to the Candy Bar, then they went to Retroland at around six forty five.

At seven, Eustace was in his rocket, grinning like mad as he saw Cindy's mom pull into the driveway.

She seemed to be in thought about something. Her daughter was acting different especially last night when she questioned her about what Jimmy wanted. Sasha couldn't ignore her suspicions. Their was something Cindy wasn't telling her. She was hiding something from her and she just wanted to get to the bottom of things.

She sighed as she walked to the door; getting ready to unlock it with her key.

"Excuse me mam, I hope I didn't come at a bad time."

She turned and saw Eustace. "Oh no, I just got home from work. Who are you?"

"How rude of me not to introduce myself especially to a lovely and intelligent woman such as yourself."

She was flattered by his compliments.

"I'm Eustace Strych." He put out a hand for her to shake. "And you must be Mrs. Vortex; mother of one of my fellow classmates; Cynthia Vortex."

She smiled. "Yes I am."

"She's very intelligent." He told her.

"Well she does take after me."

"It saddens me to be the barrier of bad news but their is something your daughter is not telling you and keeping from you."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"She's been sneaking around with Neutron." He reached in his pocket and took out some pictures to show her. "See for yourself."

She took the pictures from him. She saw a picture of Jimmy and Cindy's kiss in the alley and gasped. "Oh my gosh!" She was expecting to have a heart attack at any second.

"That one was before they started going out. He's the one that kissed her. I was there. He took her hand and kissed her, then they walked off holding hands. They've been dating for nine days now." Eustace explained.

"Oh my poor mother's soul! My poor soul! My daughter! What has become of her?" Sasha cried out putting a hand over her heart. "What a disgrace!" She looked through the other pictures. "Completely unacceptable! I will not approve of this! Cynthia is in big trouble!"

Eustace was smiling to himself. "I'm really sorry. I guess some people feel the need to be dishonest and sneaky."

She could barely breathe. "Thanks for telling me young man."

She saw Cindy wave bye to Jimmy and he waved back. Cindy turned around and bumped into Sasha. "Oh I'm," She gasped seeing her mother. "Mom."

"I know exactly where you've been young lady. You were with that Neutron boy. You've been sneaking off and going out on your precious little dates." Sasha said.

Cindy's mouth went wide along with her eyes and she felt frozen. "Mom I- I-"

Sasha's arms were folded and she looked deadly serious. "This young man told me everything." She pointed towards Eustace who was smug.

"But I-" Cindy was so shocked that she couldn't even speak.

"Go to your room now!" Sasha yelled angrily.

Jimmy was watching with shock. Sasha's yelling was so loud that his parents could hear from inside and they came out to investigate. "Jimbo what's going on?" Hugh asked.

Jimmy watched as Cindy walked pass her mom and Eustace, stepping on his foot hard before entering the house with her head hanging. Jimmy looked down defeated and his parents wondered what was wrong.

Sasha stormed across the street with her hands in a fist as she walked over to the Neutrons' lawn. Her attention was right on Jimmy and she bent down to his level. "You stay away from my daughter." She then went back to her territory, walked in the house; slamming the door behind her with such force.

Jimmy didn't move a muscle. He just stood where he had been standing. He felt the same way Cindy did. "What was all that about?" Judy asked, not liking the way Sasha spoke to her son.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Jimmy replied bitterly, turning his head, he finally moved away from his frozen spot and they watched as he walked inside the house with his head hanging.

Cindy was in her room, sitting on the bed waiting to be lectured. Sasha just marched right in, kicking the door shut which startled Cindy and made her jump.

"You've got some serious explaining to do young lady! What were you thinking? How could you betray your main goal of being smarter than that Neutron kid and reclaiming your title? He's your rival or have you forgotten that? You're supposed to hate him! He ruined everything for you! How could you fall for him?" Sasha was very upset.

"The only thing he ruined was your high expectations of me!" Cindy retorted, pointing a finger towards her angrily. She was sick of having to be so perfect all the time with everything she does. She just wanted to relax and enjoy being a kid like all the others.

Sasha gasped. "Excuse me young lady? You will not speak to me in that tone!"

"Quite calling me young lady! I am sick and tired of you always pressuring me the way you do and wanting me to be so perfect all the time! I am 11 and a half years old, I am just a kid. Give me a break! I am always working my butt off just to please you but no! It's just not good enough for you! Everything I do is never good enough for you! I just can't live up to your expectations!" She wasn't finished.

She had been wanting to tell her mother off for a long time but was too scared. Well now she was fed up with keeping her true feelings all bottled up. It was time to let the water in the bottle erupt!

"All you do is pressure me and over work me! You don't appreciate me at all! Do you even see me as your daughter or just as a possession you can show off to all of your friends?"

Sasha just stared with disbelief. She couldn't believe her daughter was being so disrespectful.

"As for my rivalry with Neutron; maybe I never even hated him; maybe I just tried to convince myself I did because I know you're upset that he gets better grades than me and beats me in every science fair. I always tried to be what you wanted, always tried to impress you but I failed and I've had it with you!" She finished.

"I will not allow you to date that Neutron kid! and your defiance just earned you an extra week of being grounded. You are not to leave this house after school. You will be right here, studying and to be sure that you won't sneak out; I'm going to hire a baby sitter and some guards to make sure you stay away from Neutron." Sasha explained.

Jimmy was in his room and Hugh walked in. He hated seeing Jimmy so depressed. "Jimbo, your mother and I are very concerned about you."

Jimmy sighed. "Cindy and I have been dating in secret for nine days because we couldn't handle the other kids teasing us and her mother doesn't like me because I stole her daughter's title of being the smartest kid in school. Now I can't see her anymore."

Judy walked in the room and sat next to him. She put an arm around him. "I'm sorry son."

The next day at school; their were a lot of guards Sasha hired, undercover as staff. They did a really good job with their job and if Cindy was even standing next to Jimmy; they'd pull her away and in class; a guard was sitting in the middle of them to make sure they didn't flirt.

It was a miserable day. When school was out, Jimmy was walking with Carl, Sheen and Elke.

Jimmy sighed. "What an awful day. This is horrible, I can't even stand near Cindy and we can't even work on projects together. We can't go out on anymore dates and now we can't even go to the dance together."

"Aw, that sounds really awful." Came Sally's sarcastic voice. "Poor Jimmy Neutron is forbidden to be with his true love and now you have to go to the dance dateless."

"Leave me alone Sally." He replied.

"Things don't have to be awful. You can still go with me to the dance." She said.

"Forget it." Jimmy walked off with his friends following.

Cindy was ranting to Libby. "Can you believe this? My mother actually hired these goons to make sure I don't even stand near Jimmy."

Eustace walked over. "You know it was quite rude of you to step on my foot like that Cynthia." He told her sarcastically. "But I'd still like to escort you to that dance." He tried to put an arm around her but she shoved him away.

Cindy came home and Sasha introduced her to her baby sitter. The baby sitter was a sixteen year old female and she had light brown hair that went to her neck and pink eyes. "Cindy, this is your babysitter Miki; she's very nice and I want you to be on your best behavior."

Miki smiled sweetly. "I'm sure things will be fine Mrs. Vortex. Cynthia and I will become friends."

Sasha left and Cindy turned to Miki and chuckled nervously. "So Miki, you're my baby sitter huh?"

"That's right you little twerp!" Miki yelled right in her face startling her. "Now here are a list of some chores I want you to do!" She threw a very long list of chores right in her face. "Now get to it!"

"Chores?" Cindy asked reading the list with disbelief. "You want me to be your personal slave?"

"That's right and you will do whatever I say or I'll destroy the whole house, call your mom and tell her you did all this cause you're mad at her for grounding you. Now rub my feet until they're smooth and shiny!"

After rubbing Miki's feet; Cindy had to clean all the mildew in the bathroom with her hands and Miki made sure she didn't miss a spot. Next she made Cindy clean the toilet with a tooth brush.

After finishing all the torturous chores; Cindy went in her room.

Jimmy was in his lab, petting Goddard. "This is so unfair boy. Cindy and I can't be together all because of the obstacles that are in our way. Oh why can't things be easy. Is their not one place we can be; just the two of us? A place where their are no guards to separate us."

He suddenly started having flashbacks. It was about when he and Cindy were stranded on a deserted island and the great times they had.

_Cindy:"I know I'm not supposed to like you, but being here away from school and grades and peer pressure; it makes me realize how ridiculous that is." _

_Another flashback..._

_Cindy: "And to think, we get to do this everyday. No more homework or chores or mean people. Just you and me and all the time in the world._

_Another flashback..._

_Cindy: "Jimmy!"_

_Jimmy: "What is it?"_

_Cindy: "We don't have to go."_

_Jimmy: "Huh? What are you talking about?"_

_Cindy: We can conquer the spider together, like we did everything else. And we can rebuild our tree houses, avoid the jungle and stay on the island, just the two of us. We don't have to go."_

"That's it!" Jimmy exclaimed happily after his flashbacks ended. "Come with me Goddard. I'm going to start packing some of my stuff."

He packed a few tooth brushes, tooth paste, some blankets, two pillows, soap, and a few of his inventions. After that; he left the house and went in his lab to get his hovercraft.

Once he got in the hovercraft with Goddard and his suitcases; he flew over Cindy's balcony and lightly tapped on her window.

"Huh?" She asked herself confused. She got up and walked over to the window. "Jimmy?" She asked surprised. "How did you get here; I'm like a princess guarded in a tower?"

"I used my freeze ray on them." He sighed. "Remember when we were on that island and it was just the two of us and things seemed simple?"

"Yeah." She replied.

"How would you like to go back? and we could live there." He said.

She smiled. "That would be wonderful, can Humphrey come too?"

"Sure and you don't have to worry about packing; I've got everything taken care of." He assured her.

She got in the hovercraft with him and he flew in her backyard to get Humphrey. He was in his dog house with a bowl of colored dog bones. "Come on Humphrey. We're going to go somewhere nice." She told him quietly. Once Jimmy lowered down so Cindy could reach him. She scooped him up and Jimmy grabbed for his bowl and picked up a few of his chew toys.

He took off into the air. Cindy smiled as she looked down at Humphrey who was on her lap. He began to bark angrily when he saw Goddard. He and Goddard were rivals but that had to change.

"So what time does your mom get home?" Jimmy asked. Before they got ready to go to the pacific ocean; he wanted to go back in his lab to type a few letters for their friends.

"Around 8; why?" She asked.

"We have to go to my lab so we can type a letter for our friends and my mom and dad." He explained. "We're not going to tell them our location, we're just gonna explain why we left." He explained.

She nodded. "Okay, I should probably pack some extra stuff though afterwards. Like a bathing suit, flip flops, sunblock, some c-ds, my cell phone and-"

He smiled. "Sounds great and you don't have to bring a charger; Goddard was programmed with one and he also has a c-d player in him."

They went to his lab and walked over towards the monitor. Their was a copy machine plugged into it. "Okay, so what are we going to type?" She asked.

"We'll just write that we need to get away for awhile because of all the stress and drama that was inflicted on us and we don't know when we'll be back." He replied.

She nodded.

After typing the letter; they printed them out, put them in envelopes; went to a post office and dropped them in the mail slot. Jimmy used his freeze ray on more of Sasha's guards who tried to get in their way.

They went to his house and he walked over to the fridge. He was sad about leaving his parents like this but it had to be done. He taped the letter to the fridge and signed Love Jimmy with a pen.

Jimmy flew Cindy back on the balcony so she could go in her room to get what she wanted. She got back in the hovercraft and he took off.

The hours went by and soon they were over the pacific ocean. Cindy looked down a little nervous. "Are you sure this is the spot where we fell?"

"positive."

Jimmy carefully drove on the water until they found a place with dirt. In order to get on the island; they'd have to get through the jungle first and jump over the cliff like last time.

"We have to be careful and aware of our surroundings, their could be giant spiders, venus fly traps and boa constrictors like last time." Cindy explained; shivering.

"We just have to be careful and not make too much noise and we should be fine." He replied.

They continued to walk further into the jungle; very aware of their surroundings. Things seemed quiet so far.

Goddard was driving the hovercraft, careful not to crash into any branches or sharp objects. Humphrey began to bark as a huge boa constrictor wrapped itself around him.

Cindy gasped. "Humphrey!"

"Oh no." Jimmy rushed over and zapped at the boa constrictor several times before it was knocked out.

She rushed over and pulled Humphrey in for a hug. "Humphrey!"

"We have to keep moving before we come across any other problems. Look," Jimmy pointed at the cliff. "We're almost at the cliff."

Once they got near the cliff; Jimmy and Cindy got in the hovercraft and she had her arms wrapped tightly around Humphrey.

Jimmy drove the car over the cliff and they went over the water. "We've made it you guys. Now we have to rebuild our tree houses, build a shack for the hovercraft and dog houses for Goddard and Humphrey."

Jimmy saw the broken pieces of wood and used one of his gadgets that put the pieces back together and their tree houses and elevators were fixed. They found more wood and Jimmy and Cindy built a shack for the hovercraft and two dog houses for Humphrey and Goddard.

Everything was perfect.


	11. Jimmy and Cindy forever

It was going on Nine and Jimmy and Cindy were exhausted from building even though Goddard had helped. If it weren't for him it would have taken longer to finish. They arrived the island at around 7:30 and it took them almost an hour and thirty minutes just to finish. "Well we can pick fruit in the morning." Jimmy said, letting out a yawn.

Cindy was starting to yawn too and nodded. It had been a long and busy evening with packing and getting everything prepared.

She walked over to her elevator and it took her to her house. Jimmy used his elevator and went in his house. He got in his sleeping bag and covered up. "Goodnight Cindy." He said loud enough for her to hear.

She had just got in her sleeping bag too and smiled. "Goodnight Jimmy."

"Goodnight Goddard." He said.

Goddard barked.

"Goodnight Humphrey." Cindy told her dog.

He barked.

"Goodnight hovercraft." Jimmy shouted.

"Night hovercraft." She said tiredly.

After a few minutes of relaxing and just enjoying the nice silence; they finally fell asleep.

* * *

Almost an hour ago at the Vortex residence; Sasha pulled into the driveway. It had been another long and stressful day at work and she was ready to just take a quick shower and crash on her bed.

It was only four when she left work so she could properly introduce Cindy to her babysitter. Speaking of which; she wondered how things went and if the guards were doing their job right.

She pulled out her key, jammed it in to the key hole and turned it till it unlocked. She made her way in and spotted Miki watching some soap opera on TV.

Sasha just shrugged after glancing around. "So how was my Cynthia? Did she behave properly?"

"I'm sorry; what?" Miki asked quickly snapping out of her trance and forgetting her interest on the TV show.

Sasha smacked her forehead with annoyance. "I said, how was my daughter?" She asked in an irritated manner.

Miki smiled sweetly. "Oh she was an angel Mrs. Vortex. She was very obedient."

"Good. Where is she right now?" Sasha asked.

"She's probably in her room upstairs." Miki replied before quickly turning her attention back on the TV. Honestly, she could really careless where Cindy was. Miki just wanted to be left alone to watch her favorite soap opera.

Sasha walked up the stairs and knocked on Cindy's door. "Cynthia sweetie, it's me. I'm home from work and I expect that you have already taken care of your homework and piano lessons."

There was no reply. "Cindy?" She pressed her ear against the door and it was complete dead silence.

aggravated by being ignored; she slammed the door open and marched in. She gasped seeing that Cindy was nowhere in sight. "Cynthia!"

She looked under the bed, searched the closet and looked out on the balcony. She left the room, searched the bathroom and her room. "Cynthia Aurora Vortex!"

She bolted downstairs. "She's gone."

"Huh?" Miki asked confused. "Who's gone?"

Sasha stormed over annoyed, snatched the remote out of Miki's hands and turned of the TV. "My daughter you irresponsible dolt! Who else would I be talking about? You're the babysitter, you should know about my daughter's whereabouts. Were you even paying attention to her? Or did you just sit here on your lazy bun all day and watch your shows?"

"Mrs. Vortex I-" Miki began.

"Get out of my house, you're fired." Sasha pointed towards the front door.

"What?" Miki cried. "You can't fire me!"

"I just did." Sasha began to push Miki towards the door and once she was out; Sasha locked the door. She rushed in the kitchen and picked up the telephone. She figured that Cindy must have found a clever way to sneak out, either that or the guards she hired weren't that great with their job.

"She must be with Libby or Jimmy." She dialed Mrs. Folfax's number. The phone rang three times before she answered. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Folfax, it's Mrs. Vortex; Cindy's mom. I just came home and she's not here. Is she with Libby?"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Vortex but Cindy's not here."

"Okay, thanks." Sasha hung up and dialed the Neutrons' number.

At around that time; Judy and Hugh just came home from the grocery store. "Hey Jimbo, we're home."

It was too quiet.

"Jimmy honey?" Judy asked growing concerned.

"Jimbo?" He went upstairs and in Jimmy's room. "We know you're upset about what happened but some pie might make you feel better."

Judy walked in the room. "What's going on Hugh?"

"He's not here. He must be in his club house or lab inventing something." He replied not wanting to think that Jimmy could have ran away.

Judy was horrified by that thought too. They gasped as they heard the phones in the house ringing. They ran in their room and Judy immediately answered the call. "Hello. Neutron residence." She gasped hearing what Sasha told her. "What?"

Sasha was pacing back and forth in her kitchen. "That's right, my Cynthia is gone. I figured she must be at Libby's or with that Neutron kid."

"Well we were just looking for our son and Cindy's not here either." Judy replied.

While she was talking to Sasha; Hugh had ran outside and ran towards Jimmy's club house and knocked on the door. "Jimbo, are you in here?"

Hugh ran back inside. Judy rushed over. "He's not in the club house either." He told her.

They ran in the kitchen and their eyes fell on a note that was taped to the fridge. "A note Hugh."

"It's from Jimbo." He replied pointing at Jimmy's pen signature. He took it off the fridge and Judy leaned over his shoulder as he read it.

_Dear mom and Dad,_

_If you're reading this letter, you must be home._

_I'm with Cindy and I can't tell you where we are._

_That was the whole point of us leaving. We decided we _

_needed to get away from all the stress and drama that was _

_inflicted on us by Eustace Strych, Sally Sagebrush and Cindy's_

_mother. I don't know when we'll come back or if but this isn't your_

_fault. You had nothing to do with this. I love you guys very much._

_Love Jimmy,_

_XOXO_

Judy and Hugh were really sad and didn't blame Jimmy for feeling the way he did. It was all Sasha's fault. "He ran away." Judy said sadly. Hugh pulled her in for a comforting hug and they began to sob.

Sasha was very angry and upset. She called the cops, showed them pictures of Cindy and Jimmy's parents showed them pictures of Jimmy.

Soon the streets were filled with police cars and Retrovile was packed with cops who were looking everywhere for Cindy and Jimmy. They had no luck and the disappearance of the young couple was reported on the news.

* * *

It was Wednesday morning and Jimmy and Cindy's friends entered the school building. They had watched the news. It was on every channel. They were very worried about them.

"I was watching Ultra Lord! It was getting to the good part and the stupid news just came on and ruined everything!" Sheen cried out.

Libby smacked him across the face. "Forget about Ultra lord! That stupid news happened to be about Jimmy and Cindy."

Sheen was clueless. "What about them?"

"They ran away!" Libby yelled right in his face; angry and annoyed.

He covered his ears. "Okay, you don't have to be so loud. I'm not deaf."

"Where could they be?" Carl asked worrying about Jimmy.

"I have no idea, nobody knows. Almost every place in retrovile is packed with cops and news reporters." She replied. "It could take days or months to find them."

Carl, Sheen and Elke were shocked. Sally and Eustace were watching the group with smugs and walked over.

"What's wrong?" She began sarcastically. "The two love birds of Lindbergh Elementary ran away?" She asked rhetorically; rubbing it in.

Eustace was smiling with his arms folded. "Which was a very naughty thing to do." He added.

"What is your problem?" Libby asked. "Haven't you caused enough damage?"

"Yeah." Carl chimed in. "I wouldn't be surprised if they left because of you."

Sally just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You can think what you want. Jimmy and Cindy will be found and he'll go to the dance with me."

"The same goes for Cynthia." Eustace said.

Soon Principal Willoughby's voice was heard over the P.A system. "Attention students and staff if I can have your attention. I would like you all to go in the auditorium. I have a big announcement to make."

In the auditorium; all the students and staff were seated and Principal Willoughby began to speak. "Two of our students, Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex have gone missing."

Everyone gasped except for Eustace, Sally and Jimmy and Cindy's friends.

"We're having a big search party for them. It's all over Retrovile and their are posters of them on almost every building." Willoughby explained.

On the island; Jimmy and Cindy had just woken up. Jimmy let out a yawn. Their monkey friend moved the bucket of water like last time and Jimmy began to brush his teeth.

Cindy combed her hair and waved to Jimmy who left his tree house. He waved back. "Morning." He told her.

"Morning." She replied.

They both smiled knowing their life was going to be different and better now. They came down and began to look for fruit. They found a tree with oranges, one with bananas and another with coconuts. They cut the fruit in half and began to eat at the wooden table again and they made and drank guava mango smoothies again.

Goddard and Humphrey began to get along because they figured if their masters weren't enemies anymore; then they shouldn't be either.

Cindy threw a piece of her orange and told Humphrey to fetch. Jimmy did the same with Goddard. Cindy looked around, thinking about something. "Jimmy, there's something I really want to show you." She told him.

"What is it Cindy?" He asked curiously.

She took his hand. "Come here." She led him over to the tree where she carved their initials, a nice heart around it and the word forever. "Look!" She pointed.

He looked and was very surprised.

She smiled. "I made it the last time we were here before Libby, Carl and Sheen called us."

"It's- it's beautiful. That's amazing Cindy."

She blushed. "Oh it was nothing. While you were gathering fruit, I found a stick and decided to carve our initials. I wanted to show you."

He smiled. "It makes it even more official that this is our island now."

She giggled. "So what should we do now?"

He glanced around and smiled as he looked at the ocean. "Well it is kind of humid today."

"Lovely day for a swim." She agreed. "I'll get my bathing suit." She headed for her tree house and he went in his. After changing into their swim wear; they put on sun lotion and ran towards the ocean holding hands.

"Watch this! Cannon ball!" Jimmy shouted as he jumped in the ocean and Cindy got splashed.

"Neutron!" She scowled playfully. "You got me all wet!"

"Help! Help!" Jimmy started to squirm around, trying to stay above the water. "Ah cramps! cramps!"

"Jimmy!" She panicked.

He grabbed her by the legs and pulled her in. "Ah!" She yelled.

He was laughing hysterically. "Got you!"

"Oh Neutron! I can't believe I fell for that!" She looked annoyed before she started cracking up too, like him.

"You should of seen the look on your face." He teased.

"You are so dead!" She tried to splash water at him but he went under; avoiding the splash. "Missed me." He taunted as he began to swim away.

She faked a frustrated growl. "Ugh, get back here Neutron!" She dove under; swimming after him.

She suddenly jumped up and grabbed his legs. "Agh Jimmy! Look out!"

"What is it?" He asked panicking.

"There was a shark behind you!"

"Where?" He turned around and she had a smug.

She grabbed his shoulders, pushed him under the water before pulling him back up. "Got you."

They both laughed and began to splash water at each other. They dove under the water, holding hands and swam around the ocean, avoiding the dangerous parts.

They got their surf boards, surfed the waves and did neat tricks; After that, they decided to play in the sand. Jimmy went in the shack to get the pails and shovels. He handed Cindy hers and they went near the ocean to fill them up. They laughed as a wave came by and splashed their feet.

They dumped their buckets on the sand and began to dig a big hole. Goddard helped them make a nice sandcastle while Humphrey digged his own hole and buried his bone.

The sandcastle was huge and Jimmy smiled as Cindy put the pearl he gave her on the top. He got some sticks and leaves and attached the leaves to the sticks. She helped put them on the castle. It was so beautiful once they finished decorating it.

He laid down in the sand and she buried him. She laid down next to him and Goddard buried her.

Jimmy and Cindy dug a big hole, filled the buckets with water again and poured it in the hole. It looked like a nice little mud pool and it was 3 feet deep. They jumped in and splashed each other with the mud.

They ran near the ocean all covered in mud and watched as a big wave came towards them. The force of the wave splashing them; dragged them down and in the ocean. All the mud was washed off them.

They swung across the vines again, played monkey in the middle with the monkey again and chased after Humphrey and Goddard while playing catch with them.

The day was going by again and at around sunset, Jimmy and Cindy were near their log again sharing a slow dance while Goddard played romantic instrumental music.

After dancing, she and Jimmy were sitting on the log and she sighed relaxed. "Wasn't this the best day ever?" She asked as she put her stick near the fire and roasted her marshmallow.

"definitely." He replied, roasting his marshmallow.

"And we get to do this everyday. No more peer pressure, or stress, or mean people getting in our way. It will be just you and me and we'll have all the time in the world." She explained.

He smiled. "I was just thinking the same thing."

They shared a smile, intertwined their hands, scooted closer and watched the beautiful sunset.

The next day, Carl and Sheen walked over to the Neutrons and knocked on the door. Jimmy's parents were sitting on the couch depressed. "Did they find Jimmy and Cindy yet?" Carl asked.

This caused Judy to cry louder. Hugh put an arm around her. "I'm afraid they haven't." He replied.

Sasha was really upset when a cop told her they haven't located her daughter yet. Cindy would be in big trouble once they did.

On the island; Jimmy and Cindy were gathering fruit again and they heard a loud thumping noise. It sounded like it was coming from the jungle. They froze and the fruit they were holding, dropped. Goddard and Humphrey hid in their dog houses.

"What was that?" Jimmy asked.

"I don't know, it sounds like it's coming from the jungle." She replied.

"I think we better investigate." He took her hand and they ran off. They swung across the vine that brought them to the cliff. "The noise we just heard must be around here." He told her quietly.

They hid behind a bush as they heard footsteps. They saw a young couple who looked somewhere in their late teens.

"Oh this is going to be rich Don." The girl with brunette hair told the boy with blond hair.

"Correction Veronika; we're gonna be rich." He replied. "Once our boss finds out we found a deserted island, we can all use this as our private hide out and destroy all these animals, get rid of the plants and dirt. This place will be perfect. The cops will never find us here."

Cindy and Jimmy's eyes widened. These people wanted to destroy their beautiful island and the animals. Aside from the giant spiders, flys and boa constructors; the other animals were friendly.

"Wait! What if we're not the first two to discover this place? What if other people are living here?" Veronika asked.

Don put an arm around her. "Don't worry babe, no one is here. It's dead silence. Besides who would want to live in this dump without remodeling it?"

She relaxed a bit. "You do have a point and maybe they even have hidden tressure here. That would make us filthy rich!"

They continued to walk on and Veronika gasped. Don became concerned. "What is it?"

She pointed. "A cliff."

"Well I guess our only way across would be to swing across this vine." He replied.

"Afraid not." Jimmy replied as he stepped in front of them.

Cindy was behind him and had her arms folded. "This is our island."

Don chuckled. "Cute. What are a couple of kids gonna do to stop us?"

Veronika was smug until stomping was heard. "Uh Don,"

The giant spider came and the bad guys were caught in a giant web.

"Oh no! It's the giant spider again!" Cindy exclaimed.

Jimmy stunned the spider with his laser.

"What should we do with these two goons?" She asked, pointing towards Veronika and Don.

Jimmy smiled. He released the web from the tree and the couple went flying across the jungle until they landed in the ocean where Jimmy and Cindy fell.

"We can't risk anymore people coming. Wait a minute that's it!" He said getting an idea. "Think, think, brain blast!" He looked at Cindy. "We have to go in the shed. I brought one of my inventions I made last week. It's a force field laser."

After, he got the force field laser, they drove through the jungle in the hover car, until they were at the beginning of the stranded area. He created a force field around their island so no one could get through; then he put a system on the force field; it was like the one on the outside of his club house.

They got back in the hovercar, drove through the desert and over the cliff again. They continued gathering fruit and they had Guava Mango smoothies again. They were sitting on the big rock she sat on the last time she drank this smoothie.

After awhile of silence, a beautiful tropical bird landed in her hands. She and Jimmy petted it. Jimmy and Cindy swung across the vines in the jungle again, played in the sand, swam in the ocean, surfed and had roasted marshmallows again.

The days went by and soon it was Saturday night. It had been nearly five days since Jimmy and Cindy were on the island. Sasha was fed up with how long it was taking to find them. Where could they have gone?

Sasha figured that Libby, Carl, Sheen and Elke should know since they were their friends. Sasha smacked her forehead for not thinking of this before. She was going to get some answers out of them. One way or another.


	12. An under water adventure

Libby was at her house in the living room. She had invited Sheen, Carl and Elke over. They were on the couch watching Ultra Lord episodes. Not Libby's idea of a friendly get together but Sheen had begged non stop to bring all his Ultra Lord DVDs; until she finally said yes just to shut him up. So they have been watching Ultra Lord episodes for the past two hours.

Carl was annoyed. He wasn't interested. He would have rather watched a show with Lamas. Elke prefered the same.

"Come on Sheen. We have been watching your dumb show for two hours already!" Libby yelled in his face. "Can we just, I don't know; watch something else?"

"Hey! Don't you dare insult the mighty Ultra Lord. He's the most awesome hero ever and-" Sheen was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She rolled her eyes annoyed. She glanced around and sighed. "I really miss Cindy and Jimmy. I have no idea when they're coming back from wherever they are or if they're even coming back at all."

Jimmy and Cindy have kept in contact with them through Goddard's monitor which had a video chat built in it. Jimmy and Cindy would only video chat with them if they were in the shed. They could not let them pinpoint their location.

"Yeah, I miss them too." Carl replied sadly.

He, Libby, Sheen and Elke gasped as they heard someone banging on the door. "Alright, alright, hold on a sec." Libby replied, irritated.

She got up, walked over to the door and opened it. "This better be important." She saw a few policemen and Sasha with her arms folded.

"Uh, kids, you're gonna have to come downtown with us. We want to ask you a very important question." One of the policemen explained.

Libby and the others already knew what important question was going to be asked. They followed the policemen to their car; while Sasha got in hers and followed.

At the police station; Libby and her friends were brought in an office and they were asked to have a seat.

"You just interrupted a very good show! You better have a reason for doing this!" Sheen exclaimed before he folded his arms and huffed.

"Don't worry, you kids can go back to watching your show as soon as you answer our question." A cop replied.

"It's quite simple really." Sasha was pacing back and forth and finally stopped. "All you have to do is tell us where my precious Cindy is and that blasted, title stealing and town menace; Neutron, is."

"Never!" Sheen jerked his head and started squirming in his seat. "You will never make us talk! I have the right to remain silent!"

"You just lack the capability." The same cop remarked; annoyed by Sheen's outbursts.

"Honestly, we don't know where Jimmy and Cindy are." Libby told the cops.

"Oh come on," Sasha chuckled. "You don't expect me to believe that you really have no idea where your friends are. Doesn't my daughter tell you everything?" She asked sarcastically.

"One time I betrayed her trust but we talked about it and everything's cool. I really don't know where they are; they didn't tell us anything." Libby explained.

"Yeah!" Carl exclaimed. "And we're not surprised if it's because of you; that they decided to leave in the first place!" He yelled.

Sasha rolled her eyes.

"And they may never come back!" He added.

"Yeah! How could you people be so cold and heartless? First you made Jimmy and Cindy leave all because you can't let her be happy with Jimmy because of your own personal issues with him and now you and these goons stop us from watching Ultra Lord just to bring us into all this nonsense!" Sheen yelled.

Libby rubbed her forehead; beginning to get a headache from all this yelling. "Aside from the Ultra Lord mumbo jumbo; Sheen does have a point." She sighed. "You did put a lot of pressure on Cindy. I could tell. She didn't have to tell me that either. She was always ambitious and wanted to be good at everything. And she did it mostly for you. She would get upset if she even just got one problem wrong or made one mistake."

Elke was the next to speak. "I really don't know Jimmy and Cindy that well but I just hope they're okay, wherever they are."

Sasha looked down and glanced at the two cops; knowing they weren't going to get anywhere with these kids. "Just let them go." She told them, before walking out of the office.

The cops rushed with the kids out of the building. The cops heard that it was going to rain so they had to hurry.

As Sasha made her way out of the building, she looked down at the ground on and off with a depressed expression. She sighed as she looked up at the sky. The clouds were rumbling and it started to rain. "I just hope your okay, where ever you are." She said out loud, worrying about her daughter.

Sasha got in her car, buckled up and drove off. Maybe that Libby girl was right. Maybe she did put a lot of pressure on Cindy and maybe she should have listened to Cindy instead of just dismissing it and considering it rude and defiant.

It's not like Sasha ever wanted to put her daughter through this. She just wanted what was best for her. When she thought more about this; Cindy sort of reminded her of how she was when she was a child and her mother had high expectations of her. Now she had put Cindy through the exact same thing.

Before, Sasha knew it; she was finally home and parked in the driveway. She unbuckled and hurried inside the house. She glanced around before going upstairs.

She peeked into her daughter's room and walked inside. She noticed a pink book on the bed and picked it up curiously. It was her daughter's diary.

Sasha wondered if she should look inside and after a moment of hesitating; she made up her mind. She was going to flip through the pages.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today when Neutron and I were in the library, studying together; I tapped his foot and he tapped mine back. I think we were playing footsie! I have to tell Libs about this when she comes over! _

She turned the page.

_Dear Diary,_

_Ugh! I can't believe her! How could she do this! I trusted her! I made her promise not to tell anyone. In class, Neutron, his friends, Libby and I were asked to be apart of a children's broadcast. Jimmy's the anchor, I'm co anchor, Libs is the gossip reporter, Carl's the weatherman and Sheen is the sports reporter. Jimmy and I were playing the walking elephant and__ Libby reported about us playing footsie in the library._

_Neutron and I immediately stopped and scooted away. After the broadcast, we confronted Libby and she told us people won't know who she was talking about. I am going to be so humiliated tomorrow. I just know it._

Next page.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today when Neutron, his friends and I arrived school; kids started teasing us; and Butch started teasing me and Neutron so I pushed him to the ground. Through out the day, we were all teased because of Libby's news. She has dirt on everyone in town, even Miss. Fowl! __She blackmailed Fowl into giving her an A on her report otherwise she'd tell people her secret. _

_Later on, me, Jimmy, Carl and Sheen were at the Candy Bar. Libby was there too and she heard us talking. I can't believe she was going to let everyone know more personal things about us! She needed to be stopped so we came up with a plan to make everyone think Libby's crazy._

_We convinced Libby that Carl's being controlled by aliens and she reported it. Our plan backfired! People actually believed her and a mob began to chase after Carl. We told the people that their were no aliens and we made it up. Libby apologized to us for getting too carried away. What the hay? I forgave her._

_As we were about to walk off, Jimmy grabbed my hands and kissed me! He kissed me! Right on the lips! He looked nervous and as he was about to walk away, I took his hand and we walked off, smiling at each other. _

_Moments of silence passed and he offered to walk me home and I accepted. _

Sasha smiled a little; thinking the ending of that entry was kind of cute. Maybe this Neutron boy wasn't so bad after all; aside from the problems he caused for the town with his inventions and the fact that he was smarter than her daughter.

Another page:

_Dear Diary, _

_Eustace and Sally are such jerks! Eustace has Sally in on his plan to make us miserable. Sally is the girl Jimmy fell for when we went to the rodeo. She likes him now and we have to do whatever these lowlives say otherwise they'll expose our secret to the entire school!_

Sasha skipped through the other pages. She read about how her daughter and Jimmy had to suffer and go out with them. She read about how Cindy and Jimmy finally told them off, took potions that gave them temporary super powers so they can save Cynthia and Jet from evil, then they went to their wedding.

_Dear Diary,_

_It's Monday. I know Jimmy and I are gonna have to suffer from the taunts of the other students. I don't know if I'm ready for this. Jimmy and I entered the building, holding hands and kids started teasing us. We were both humiliated as we glanced at all the kids teasing and pointing at us. _

_As Butch began to tease us, Jimmy wrapped his hands around my waist, I wrapped mine around his neck and we shared a long kiss! It was so romantic! The bell rang and we pulled apart, shared a smile and walked off, holding hands. _

_We both felt free. We could finally be together and we don't care what anyone thinks anymore. We don't have to hide our affection anymore when we're around people we know. In class, we passed notes to each other and we were so busy flirting, that we didn't hear Miss. Fowl call on us five times to answer a math problem. _

_In the halls, I kind of blew up on Jimmy about how distracted I got and grades are very important to me. If I continue getting distracted like this; my mom will found out and it's not gonna be pretty._

Sasha skimmed through it and stopped at the part when Cindy returned from her dates with Jimmy.

_That brie breath scumbag! Ugh! Eustace just told my mother that Jimmy and I are dating and even showed her pictures for proof. My mom was NOT happy and told me to go in my room. When she came in; she asked me what I was thinking? And how could I betray my main goal of being smarter than him? I told her off and she told me she would not allow me to date him and for being 'defiant; I'm grounded for an extra week! _

_Can you believe this? How could my mom be so cruel and heartless? Especially after everything I've done for her! She just expects so much out of me and can't even be a little happy when I try. I have to be perfect!_

Sasha stopped reading as tears escaped her eyelids. She felt really guilty and horrible. Libby and the others were right. Sasha did put a lot of pressure on Cindy and had personal issues with Neutron JUST because he stole her daughter's title. Sasha's harshness drove Cindy away and now she may never see her again.

_Anyway, to make sure I don't leave the house, she's going to hire a baby sitter and some guards to make sure I stay away from Jimmy. I told her that I hate her and she's the worst mother ever! She didn't care or even feel bad but she doesn't have a heart so why would she?  
_

Sasha felt bad and cared now.

_Dear Diary,_

_Ugh! today was horrible! Jimmy and I can't even stand next to each other or guards will pull us away. And in class a guard was sitting in the middle of us to make sure we didn't flirt._

_My baby sitter is horrible. Her name is Miki and she's sixteen. She seemed okay until Sasha left; then she revealed her true colors. She called me a little twerp and gave me a list of chores she wanted me to do. She threatened to destroy the whole house, call mom and tell her I did it if I refused._

_She made me rub her feet, forced me to clean all the mildew in the bathroom with my hands and she stood there to make sure I didn't miss a spot. Then she made me clean the toilet with a tooth brush._

_I told her she was a terrible baby sitter and she's so icky and makes me sick. She got mad, dragged me into the living room by the hair and sat on me. I asked her why she was sitting on me and she said she's my babysitter so it's her job to sit on me. I told her I wasn't a baby and I'm almost twelve years old. She then yelled in my face that it's too bad and if I didn't apologize for insulting her; she'd sit on me all day and force me to watch a torturous soap opera with her._

_I apologized and she told me to go in my room so I did. This has truly been the worst day ever!_

Sasha closed the diary when she realized that was it and their wasn't anymore entries. She sighed and left the room.

* * *

Jimmy and Cindy were in their tree houses; all covered up in their sleeping bags. It was raining on the island just like it was in Retrovile. They were happy that they had brought their jackets incase something like this happened otherwise they would have been freezing to death.

It stopped raining at around 3 in the morning and they slept in til 8. It was still chilly when they woke up. "So, so cold." Cindy's teeth were clattering and she put the hood of her jacket over her head.

"It's so frigid today. We're gonna have to keep on our jackets until it gets warmer." He replied.

She nodded. "I don't plan on being a frozen sculpture for the rest of my life."

"Me either." He agreed. "So, we should probably start gathering fruit."

"Right." She replied, shivering a little.

After they picked some fruit; Jimmy used one of his gadgets to create a fire. They had breakfast on the log. Even though, they had on their jackets; they were still a little cold.

An hour and a half passed and it wasn't as cold. They took of their jackets, placed them on the log and headed for the jungle to swing on the vines.

When Jimmy and Cindy were in the ocean, Jimmy noticed something gold at the bottom. It was far away but he could see it. He couldn't make out what it but it caught his attention. He went above the water. "Did you see that gold object?" He asked.

"Uh, no. Where?"

He had an idea. "How would you like to find out?"

"Neutron, we can't go that far down, this ocean is over 50 feet deep and we'll die."

"Come with me." He replied. They got out of the water and she followed him to the shack. He showed her some nose plugs, a mouth mask, and ear plugs. "These are mouth masks. I created them months ago. We will be able to talk under the water if we wear these."

She smiled.

"Also, you may need this." He handed her a watch that looked similar to his.

"You're giving me your stun, laser watch?" She asked, a bit confused of why he would do that.

He smiled. "Actually I'm giving you your own stun, laser watch. I've figured we'd both need them for emergencies or if we have a run in with any dangerous creatures."

"You really thought a lot about this, didn't you?" She asked knowingly, after putting on the watch.

"Well I thought since we're gonna be on an uncharted island, we'd need pretty much anything for preparation and survival." He replied. "So are you ready to go on an awesome and cool underwater adventure?"

They put on the mouth masks, plugged their noses, ears, ran back to the ocean, jumped in and dove under the water.

"So where did you see this gold object?" She asked.

"Over there?" He pointed. "Now come on," He grabbed her hand and they went down further.

"I didn't see anything. We were like only a few inches under, how did you even see it? You have super vision or something?" She joked.

"Ha, funny Cindy. Actually I programmed my goggles to also allow me to see things from far away." He replied.

"Wow, you really spent a lot of your free time in that lab." She commented, half-joking.

"Yep." He replied, proudly. "After all, what's a genius without his lab?"

She groaned. "Oh Neutron, you're just so full of yourself."

Before they knew it, they were 15 feet under and they moved out of the way as they saw a shark passing by. Lucky for them; the shark didn't seem to be looking for any human prey. Either that, or it didn't even notice them.

"Phew." Jimmy and Cindy let out a sigh of relief and resumed their mission. They avoided bumping into the sea creatures. "Are you sure, we're even going in the right direction?" She asked, getting impatient.

"positive. I saw the object somewhere right in this direction." He replied.

"Ugh, it could take us hours to get there." She complained.

"Well if you'd rather just turn back around and let me have all the glory-" He was quickly cut off.

"No way Neutron, I'm just as in as you are about this adventure."

"Then quit complaining."

"Who said I was complaining?" She asked, getting offensive.

"Hm, I don't know, I wasn't the one who said 'it could take us hours to get there' He said mockingly

She gasped. "Are you mocking me? How dare you! Don't even start with me. Remember Neutron, I didn't take tae quan do for nothing you know."

"Uh, huh, right sure." He replied sarcastically. "I don't think it would be a great idea to fight me 15 feet under water."

"Don't you dare underestimate me, Neutron! I can take you on, any place, any time." She warned.

"Well I'd love to see you try." He challenged.

"Well maybe I will." She replied.

"Well maybe you should."

"And maybe you should stop irritating me!" She yelled in his face.

"I'll stop irritating you when you stop complaining." He replied.

"Well I'll stop complaining when you stop irritating me." She retorted.

"You're the one who irritated me first with your complaining, so just stop it!" He yelled, getting frustrated.

"Yeah, well you irritated me first by saying that I was complaining." She replied.

"Which wouldn't have happened if you didn't complain in the first place."

"Well maybe I wouldn't have complained if I knew for sure that we're going in the right direction!"

"For the last time Vortex, we are going in the right direction!"

"I don't think we are Neutron!"

Soon they were at the bottom of the ocean and they had argued nonstop until they saw a gold castle. They gasped. "Look a castle!" She pointed.

They saw lots of mermaids and mermen swimming around. Jimmy and Cindy swam pass the castle and stopped near the gold object he saw earlier. "Aha! This it it!" He exclaimed.

Cindy gasped with excitement. "A tressure chest! There must be lots of gold in there! You know what this means, we're gonna be filthy rich beyond our wildest dreams!" Dollar signs appeared in her eyes.

Jimmy opened the tressure chest. The sight was beautiful. Their was lots of gold, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, earings, gems, pearls and necklaces in there.

"It's beautiful Neutron! And it's all ours!" She exclaimed.

"Wait, we can't just take it. It could belong to someone." He replied.

"Who cares? We'll just hurry up and take it before whoever it belongs to; sees us."

"Cindy-"

"Jimmy, this is huge. We can bring it back to the island, decorate our tree houses and I could wear them."

As they lifted up the box, a voice startled them. "Stop right there!"

They turned around and saw a muscler merman with a staff in his hands. He was tough and mean looking.

"Uh, we were just-" Jimmy began.

"About to steal my tressure chest? I know. I saw the entire thing. There's a place for greedy people." The merman slammed his staff down into the sand and his mermen assistants appeared. "Gwan, Johda, take them away."

"Wait!" Jimmy exclaimed. "We're really sorry we tried to steal your tressure chest. It was her idea!" He pointed at Cindy.

"Hey!" She exclaimed.

"Sorry isn't going to get you out of this. You did the crime, now you'll do the time." The muscler merman replied.

"Thanks a lot Cindy!" Jimmy said angrily.

"That's right, just blame it all on me Neutron!" She replied sarcastically, getting in his face. "You were the one who saw it first and suggested that we come here!" She pointed at his chest.

"Well I never suggested that we should steal it!" He yelled, getting in her face.

"So you're saying that we came all the way down here just to look at it?" She asked with sarcasm.

"There's nothing wrong with just looking at stuff you know! Not everybody wants to end up in prism!"

"You wanted the tressure just as much as I did and you know it!" She insisted.

"I want a lot of things Vortex, that doesn't mean I go around and steal!"

They began to yell over each other and it sounded like babbling. The mermen and his henchmen were getting a headache, listening to their back and forth bickering.

"You drive me so crazy Vortex!" Jimmy yelled.

"You're the one who started this Neutron!" She retorted.

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Oh will you just stop it!" The mermen yelled, slamming his staff into the sand again. Jimmy and Cindy immediately stopped and jerked their heads away from each other, blushing.

"You're giving me a headache! I don't care who's idea this was or who started it! You're both under arrest!"

"Tritan! King Tritan!" A merman yelled, rushing over.

"What?" The muscler merman known as King Tritan, asked.

"It's your son Arthur, he's gone!" The merman panicked. "We searched the castle for him and we couldn't find him anywhere!"

"Oh Neuptons!" Tritan raised his fists in the air. His anger towards Jimmy and Cindy suddenly turned into concern for his son. His son was 15, and everyone called him Artie as he prefered to be called. He was very mischievous and often got himself into trouble. He could be very rebellious and seeked adventure.

A mermaid with long silver hair rushed over. "Dad! I can't find Artie anywhere! He just vanished!" She was a year older than Artie.

Cindy noticed that Jimmy was checking the mermaid out and elbowed him in the ribs, hard.

"Ow!" He cried.

"Silvana! Where did you see him last?" Tritan asked.

"We were tossing a clam and he said he had to use the bush." She explained.

Cindy was confused. "The bush?"

"It's a place where sea creatures urinate and poop." Jimmy replied quietly. He suddenly had an idea. "Uh, King Tritan, how about we help locate him?"

Tritan looked shocked before he started laughing. "You two, help me? After you tried to steal my tressure?"

"Please just give them a chance dad, they might have seen him." Silvana pleaded.

He sighed. "Fine, but if you fail to find my son or hurt him, you will be behind bars forever." He told Jimmy and Cindy before turning back to his daughter. Silvana, get Clamra."

"Yes father." She bowed down and swam off.

Clamra was a pink clam that took pictures of people, places or things. She offtened followed and stalked people, especially the king's son. It was Clamra's job to take pictures and make sure the king's children were safe.

Silvana returned with Clamra. "Okay, Clamra, do you have any pictures of my son?" Tritan asked.

Clamra opened up and revealed a recent picture she had taken of Artie. He was walking pass the bush and disappeared somewhere.

"This is my son. According to the recent picture of him that was taken; he went pass the bush." He explained.

Artie had dirt blond hair and wore turquoise swimming trunks. He looked like he could make a great surfer.

Jimmy and Cindy swam off and headed for the bush. "Are we really certain he could have headed off in this direction?" She asked.

"You heard the king." He replied.

"How are we even gonna find him fast enough? He could be anywhere right now." She explained.

They continued their new adventure; finding King Tritan's son. Soon they have looked for what felt like hours and explored the aspects of the sea. They made it pass a school of tuna fish, and made it safely through a jelly fish mine by zapping any of the jellyfish that tried to sting them. Next they had to get through a very strong current and their were lots of sea turtles. They rode on the sea turtles and got through the current. It was actually a very fun and exciting ride.

Soon they were in an area surrounded with lots of coral reefs. They saw a teenage merman zooming by. He looked like the king's son.

Jimmy cleared his throat to get his attention. "Um, excuse me but are you King Triton's son?"

The teen turned around. "Are you talking to me?"

"Just answer the question? Are you his son or not?" Cindy demanded.

Artie realized that his father must have sent these kids off to find him. "So what if I am. I'm not going back."

"Why not?" Jimmy asked. "Your father is worried about you and your sister."

"He worries too much. I feel free now. All I ever really wanted to do was explore all the aspects of the ocean but he's says it's too dangerous. I can handle myself. I just know their's a world somewhere I haven't explored. Like another life. The human life, life outside of the ocean. I always wondered what that's like." Artie explained.

"I'm sorry but you can't survive life on land. It's highly impossible. Your lungs were created differently. You would need some gear to survive on land." Jimmy replied.

"Say what?" Artie asked confused.

"Just come with us now." Cindy tried to grab the stubborn teen's hand but he pulled away.

"No! You don't have any idea what it's like to have people who have high expectations of you. My dad just pressures me and makes me work hard. He wants me to be king of the sea someday and I don't even know if that's what I want." He sat down on the sand and sighed.

Cindy felt bad for him. She knew what that felt like. Her mother had done the same to her and being on the island again made her feel free from the pressure. Artie deserved the same freedom. "You don't have to go back to your father, you can stay here if you want and maybe one of Neutron's inventions will allow you to survive on land." She took Jimmy's hand.

"Cindy! What are you doing? We promised we'd return him."

"So, who cares. You heard him. His dad has high expectations of him." She replied.

"It doesn't matter, he can't just run away from his problems. He's gonna have to work it out himself with his dad." He said.

"Oh like I haven't tried to work things out with my mom?" She retorted sarcastically. "I know how he feels."

Jimmy sighed. Before he could say anything, a loud bang startled he, Cindy and Artie. They turned around and saw a merman with an evil smug. "You're coming with me kid." He told Artie.

"Who are you?" The teen merman asked.

"Who am I?" He chuckled evilly. "I am Gathos, soon to rule the entire sea and take over the castle. But first, there's something I want. Your dad's powerful scepter. If you tell me where it is, I may let you go."

"I will never tell you anything!" Artie replied.

"Very well then." He pushed Artie against a reef. Jimmy immediately used his watch and zapped Gathos. Cindy stunned the villain with her watch.

"You saved me." Artie told Jimmy and Cindy.

"Aw, it was nothing, really." Jimmy replied as he turned to Cindy smiling. "Just the power of technology." He finished.

Artie sighed. "I guess I should go back to my father."

The three swam off and returned to King Triton who was very happy to see his son again. "Artie!"

"Dad!" Artie ran over and they hugged. "I'm sorry I ran away."

Triton sighed. "Don't be sorry. I shouldn't have put a lot pressure on you." He turned to Jimmy and Cindy. "You have saved my son and I am truly greatful."

"Don't sweat it and we're really sorry about the whole tressure incident." Jimmy apologized.

"For your great deed, I would like you to have some of my tressure." Triton let them have some of his tressure and they swam off.

"I think these gems are going to look fabulous in my tree house." Cindy told Jimmy.

"Who said they were going to be in your tree house?" He asked.

"Oh what's the matter now Neutron?" She asked annoyed.

"Nothing. I just think they'd be better in my tree house." He replied.

"Well nobody asked for your contribution!" She snapped.

"Oh so you're saying I can't even have half of them?" He asked.

"You can have only three."

"What?" He exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"Take it or leave it Neutron." She said.

"Ugh, fine."

When they were back on land, they saw Humphrey and Goddard chasing each other. Later on at around 5:30, Jimmy and Cindy just finished gathering fruit for tomorrow and went in the shack. Goddard was there too.

"I can't believe we've already been on this island for five days." Cindy told Jimmy.

"Correction, we've been here for nearly five nights." He replied.

"Five nights, five days, why's it matter?" She suddenly looked in thought. "So, you think the others miss us?"

"Who? Are friends. Probably. And my mom and dad. I wonder how they're doing." He began to think about his parents and how much he missed them.

"My mom won't miss me." Cindy hung her head. "She just misses what I'm capable of."

Goddard barked.

"What is it boy?" Jimmy asked.

Something appeared on his monitor. It was Jimmy's parents. They were at home, on the couch, crying.

"I really miss Jimbo." Hugh told Judy.

"I do too. But it doesn't look like he's gonna be found anytime soon. I just hope he's okay. Wherever he is." She sobbed.

Jimmy felt really guilty. He turned to Cindy when the video was finished. "Cindy, we have to go back."


	13. The return and closure

Cindy's eyes widened in shock by what Jimmy said. "What?" She exclaimed. What was going on in that big brain of his? He couldn't be serious. There was no way she was going back to Retrovile and their was definitely no way she was going back home either.

He sighed. "I'm sorry Cindy, but we have too." A part of him wanted to stay too but he really missed his parents, friends and school. He also missed his lab and inventing new things. He would never be able to do that again if they stayed here.

Now she knew she really had to knock sense into him. "Go back? Have you completely lost it? What is going on in that big brain of yours? We can't go back. This is our home now; our island." She looked sad like she did last time when they were leaving this island.

"Cindy, listen, I know you wanna stay, I do too but we have to-" He was cut off.

"No we don't Jimmy!" She cried out, desperately. "We don't have to go. If we go back, my mom's gonna ground me for life, we won't be able to go out anymore and Eustace and Sally will continue to pester us!"

"And if we don't go back, I'll never see my parents again, I won't be able to work on any more inventions in my lab-"

"Oh I get what all this is about Neutron! You just wanna be back in your precious lab, and show off what a big genius you are to everyone with your incredible gadgets; Mr. Einstein!"

"This isn't about that-"

"Don't lie to me Neutron. I should have known. You can barely last a day without being a show off! I'm surprised you even lasted five stinking days!"

"It has been nearly five nights!"

"There you go again correcting me! Every little mistake I make; you just have to rub it in." She got close to his face, really irritated.

"I'm not rubbing it in! You miscalculated, I was just correcting you!"

"I don't need you correcting me!" She yelled. "I may not be a big brain genius like you but I'm still intelligent!"

"This conversation is over. We're going back to Retrovile whether you want to or not." He replied.

"I don't have to take orders from you Neutron! You're not the boss of me." She folded her arms. "If you want to leave, then fine! But I'm staying!"

"Cindy,"

She huffed, turned from him and left the shack; slamming the door on her way out.

"Cindy!" He shouted.

She wandered off with her head hanging, muttering angrily. She kicked a few tiny rocks that she came across. "Stupid Neutron! How could he do this to me?" She stopped near the tree that had their initials and kicked it, letting out an angry grunt before she plopped down.

Jimmy walked over and saw her under the tree with her face buried in her knees. She was shaking and sobbing. "Cindy?" He sat next to her and tried to put an arm around her but she jerked away.

"Cindy, what happened?" He asked concerned.

"Why do you even care?" She asked coldly. "Why don't you just go back home and be with your understanding and loving parents? Not everyone has that." Her cheeks were red from crying and tears were escaping her eye lids uncontrollably.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Nothing Neutron!" She snapped. "It doesn't matter! Just go! Go home and be in your stupid lab with your stupid inventions! Forget about this stupid island! It means nothing! We mean nothing! We never did! So Just leave me here and erase me from your memories with one of your gadgets!"

"Come on Cindy, what's going on?" He asked, becoming really concerned. Ever since he said they had to go back to Retrovile; she has been upset. He began to think that his lab and inventions weren't the real reason she was upset, but something else.

She just avoided eye contact, not wanting him to see her this way.

"Don't you miss Libby, Britney? Being at school? What about your mom?" He sighed. "I really miss my parents and I feel bad that I hurt them like this. I just wanna go home. But none of this means that I regret being here. This island will always be a part of us."

She might have not been looking at him and reburied her face but she was listening to him.

"And I thought we put aside our rivalry and competitive behavior when we started going out. I thought that who's the smartest and gets the better grades didn't matter anymore."

She finally looked up. "Well it does matter Neutron and it always will." She looked down regretful for a brief second. She knew the decision of their rivalry and competitiveness would never be up to her or him. "That's why us being here was the only thing that would change that."

"But why? We have nothing to hide anymore. We haven't since Eustace and Sally told everyone." He pointed out.

"You just don't get it Neutron, do you? This isn't just about school or being ridiculed." She sighed. "You have parents who love you and care about you so you have nothing to worry about. My dad's barely around and all mom ever did was over pressure me. Being here, on this island, was my get away from all of that."

She sighed again. "That's one of the reasons I wanted to stay, last time. Not just to be with you." She admitted. "My mom has always treated me as more of a possession to show off. I don't even remember her telling me she loves me and appreciates me, unless I win some science fair or get the best grades in class."

He felt bad for her and disgusted by her mother's high expectations. He always thought of Cindy as his worst enemy who always wanted her way and would stop at nothing to mock and humiliate him and reclaim her title. Cindy was no genius but that didn't mean she wasn't good enough.

That's one of the things he really liked about her; she was very intelligent and he even thought of her as his intellectual equal when their rivalry died down and maybe even before when he could barely stand her.

He remembered their akward moment last year when they were going to space to save their parents from the Yokians. He found himself smiling at her. He was attracted to her for that brief moment. There was just something about her that captivated him.

When he realized what he was doing; he snapped out of it and remembered that she was his worst enemy and he hated her.

Things weren't like that anymore. He sighed. "Look Cindy, you may not be a genius but you're still really smart and if your mother can't appreciate or see that; she's not worth it."

She smiled a little and sniffled.

"You and me came a long way. We went from bickering rivals to frenemies and now things have changed. She may not approve of us but we'll try to make things work." He explained.

"But how? Their are guards everywhere to make sure we're not even near each other." She informed.

"I'll figure something out but we have to go back." He replied.

"Fine." She sighed, took his hand and he helped her up. They went in their tree houses and packed all their stuff. "Alright guys, we're going back home." Jimmy told Goddard and Humphrey.

They all got in the hover car and Jimmy took off. They stopped near the force field. "Just like my lab, we'll use a piece of my hair if we ever wanna come back again." He explained.

The force field opened up for them and closed once they left. Soon they were near the exact spot they fell last time. She smirked at him. "You do remember how we ended up stranded?" She asked rhetorically.

"Of course. We were arguing about whether we can see the equator and you almost fell so I grabbed your hand and let go of the hover car hoping our friends could pull us back in." He replied.

"I still say the equator is visible." She insisted.

This of course caused another argument.

"Well it's not. It's invisible. You can't see it." He replied.

"Yes you can."

"No you can't, nothing is there," He pointed. "See?"

"But I saw a light." She didn't want to admit she was wrong.

"I told you that was just the sun's reflection."

She growled. "Dang it!"

He smiled. "Admit it Vortex, I was right and you were wrong."

She rolled her eyes, slightly irritated. "Big deal." She huffed. "There's still millions of other things I know more about than you."

"Sure." He replied sarcastically.

"And what's that supposed to mean Franken head?" She asked offended.

"Nothing, it's just I'm the genius here."

"Well I'd love to see what a genius you are when I pull out your brains!" She yelled in his face.

Before they knew it; they were home. They glanced around. "Well, here we are. Back in Retrovile." She sighed. "I guess this is it."

"Um, I'll drive the hover car on my roof and walk you home." He told her.

She nodded.

After they let Goddard and Humphrey out; he parked the hover car on the roof, put on his jet pack, lifted her up and flew down.

She glanced at her house real quick before turning back to Jimmy with sadness in her eyes. He was sad too. They shared a hug, held hands and walked to her house. She watched as he walked back to his house and they waved bye.

She sighed and knocked on the door. This was it. She was sure her mother would ground her for life and she'd have to stay away from Jimmy.

Sasha walked to the door and opened it. She was surprised when she saw her daughter standing there. She was prepared to be yelled at and grounded for life.

"Cindy?" Tears filled Sasha's eyes. She was happy to see her. She picked her up and hugged her.

Cindy's eyes widened, surprised by how her mother reacted to her return. She had expected to be yelled at or demanded to know where she was. "Mom, I can explain-"

"You don't have too." Sasha replied sniffling. "I'm just happy you're back. I'm sorry for putting so much pressure on you."

She carried her upstairs, tucked her in bed, kissed her forehead, turned off the light and gently shut the door. "Good night sweet heart."

At Jimmy's, he ran to his parents. "Mom! Dad!"

They were happy to see him. "Jimmy!"

After sharing a long hug; Jimmy began to explain about everything to his parents. "I'm really sorry I worried you guys, I just-"

Judy smiled. "We understand sweetie."

Hugh nodded. "Yeah, we're just happy you're safe and back Jimbo."

She nodded. "Well you better get ready for bed. You have school tomorrow."

The next day it was Monday morning. Jimmy woke up from the sound of his alarm clock. He covered his eyes to avoid the bright sun light, shining through his window. "Leaping leptons! I'm gonna be late for school!" He got himself ready and went downstairs for breakfast.

At the Vortex residence; Sasha just quietly opened Cindy's door and woke her up by gently shaking her shoulders. Sasha had decided to let Cindy sleep in a little longer and went in her room while she was sleeping to turn of the alarm clock.

Cindy stretched and let out a yawn. "Mom?"

Sasha smiled kindly.

"What time is it?" Cindy glanced around the room, tiredly. She gasped as she saw the time on her alarm clock. It was five minutes after six. "Oh no! It's five minutes pass six! I over slept! I'm gonna be late for school!"

"It's okay, I decided to let you sleep in a little longer. I turned off your alarm when you were sleeping." Sasha explained. "Also, I'm going to take you to school today and I'll be coming home from work earlier so we can spend some mother/daughter time together."

Cindy was surprised. "Really?" This was new for her. Sasha took her job very seriously and almost never missed a day or decided to have earlier days just to spend time with her. The only time Sasha would ever miss work or come home earlier is when she didn't feel well.

"Uh huh. I feel like we need to hang out more. I mean you are my daughter and I love you. I know I haven't been the best mother but I want that to change. I want our relationship to improve."

Cindy didn't know what to say. She was a bit taken back by this. This was a side to her mother that she only rarely saw and she liked it.

Sasha sighed and sat next to her. "You know, when I was little; my mom would put a lot of pressure on me too and she had very high expectations of me. I didn't like that but I was afraid to say anything. What you said to me last week was true and I shouldn't have gotten mad."

They shared a hug. "I fired the guards last night and you won't have to worry about Miki anymore. As for you and Jimmy; I just want you to know that I support your relationship 100%."

"You do?"

Sasha nodded. "Yeah, he seems like a nice guy and he makes you really happy."

"Thanks mom."

Jimmy's parents decided to take him to school too. He called Cindy and asked her how things were. She told him things were cool with her mother and she approves of his relationship with her.

They arrived the school and Jimmy and Cindy couldn't wait to surprise their friends with their return. They entered the building.

Sheen, Libby, Carl and Elke were hanging in front of Elke's locker.

"I didn't understand the homework assignment at all. Is it okay if I copy your answers?" Sheen asked Libby.

"No!" She slapped his face.

Jimmy and Cindy walked over and he cleared his throat to get their attention. "Hey guys."

They turned around, surprised and happy. "Jimmy! Cindy!" They all shared hugs. Eustace and Sally turned from their lockers as soon as they heard their rivals names.

"You're back! You're really back!" Sheen was hugging Jimmy so tight; he was squeezing him. "Uh Sheen, you're squeezing me. You're gonna damage my circulation."

Eustace and Sally figured that Jimmy and Cindy were finally caught and that they would be miserable. "Well, look who's back." He said sarcastically.

He and Sally walked over.

"Look who decided to come out of hiding. Jimmy and Cindy. Do my eyes deceive me?" He asked sarcastically.

"Shame on you for running away and worrying everyone." Sally said sarcastically. "Well you better step away from each other before the guards come."

Jimmy smiled. "actually we don't have to worry about the guards anymore. They're fired. Cindy's mom approves of us now which means we can continue dating and we're going to the dance together." He explained proudly, putting an arm around Cindy. "So sorry your plans backfired." He told Sally and Eustace who became enraged.

"Blasted Neutron! This isn't over!" He stomped off and she followed.

"Such losers." Cindy said out loud and she, her friends and boyfriend laughed.

While Sally and Eustace were walking through the halls with rage; she made an angry noise and kicked a trashcan they passed by. "I don't believe this!" She exclaimed. "Our plan backfired! Cindy's mother's cool with them and now Jimmy will never be mine!"

The second bell rang and the six friends got ready for class. "So where were you two?" Libby asked Jimmy and Cindy.

"Uh, we'll explain later." Jimmy replied. "How about you guys come to my lab after school? And we could watch a movie."

"Sounds great." Sheen replied excitedly.

"We are not watching another Ultra Lord movie." Libby told him before turning to Cindy. "They put me in charge of planning the dance so maybe you could give me some ideas during break."

Soon Principal Willoughby's voice was heard over the P.A system. He announced that Jimmy and Cindy have both returned from wherever they were.

The six friends entered the class room and Miss. Fowl greeted her two smartest students; happy that they were back. "Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex are back from wherever they were." She announced. "Maybe for show and tell this Friday; you can explain to the class about where you guys were."

Cindy and Jimmy took their seats as Miss. Fowl turned to the black board and began to write down some equations and wrote that prom was in four days. "As you already know, the dance is in four days and Libby Folfax has been put in charge of coming up with ideas to make this dance fantastic."

During break; outside on a bench, Cindy was talking with Libby about the dance and helping her think of some good ideas.

"That's a great idea Cindy, maybe I can get Graystar to perform at the dance."

Cindy nodded. "We still need to think of a great theme."

"We'll we're going to start decorating the gym at lunch on Wednesday. We're going to help bring in tables and chairs. We're also going to put up banners, work on the dance sign, help blow up the balloons and we're going to have a disco ball."

When school was out, Cindy rushed over to Jimmy. "Uh, Jimmy, I can't come to your lab today, my mom and I are going to hang out."

"It's okay, we can just reschedule for tomorrow. They'll understand."

"Thanks Jimmy." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, making him love strucked; then she skipped off happily.

She rushed to Sasha who was waiting for her outside her car. She picked up Cindy, lifted her up and spun and twirled her around a few times before putting her down. "I was thinking we could shop at the mall, go to Retroland and then we can watch that adventure movie you wanted to see." Sasha explained.

Cindy smiled. "Sounds great mom."

They got in the car, buckled up and Sasha drove off. "We're going to have a great time and on Wednesday at around seven, your dad's returning from his business trip and he's gonna watch you earn your black belt in Tae quan doe."

Cindy smiled proudly. She had been doing good in her karate class and she was one of Master Lowie's best students. She was proud that she had found something that she would be better at than Neutron.

They arrived the mall and Cindy looked around amazed. She found some very pretty dresses, shoes and jewelry. Sasha found things she liked too.

"Ooh, I have to have this!" Cindy held a pretty and shiny periwinkle dress and showed her mom.

"I think that would look great on you honey." Sasha replied.

"Oh, look at this mom!" Cindy said, getting excited over another pretty dress. It was a lime green dress. It was also shiny and had pretty swirly circles on it. She showed her a few more pretty dresses, put them in the cart and they went off to find some shoes to match the dresses.

"Ooh!" She found a pair of sparkly periwinkle shoes and a pair of sparkly lime green. "Now I just need to find some earings."

Sasha waited against a wall outside of the girls dressing room as Cindy went in so she could try on her dresses to see if the size was like the number on the tags.

After that; they paid for the dresses, shoes and earings, then they went to the food court and had chinese food.

They went to the spa, laid back in chairs and got their hair rubbed with soap and water. They also had pedicures and manicures. They turned on their backs and had relaxing massages.

They left the mall and went to Retroland. They went on all the fun and exciting rides, played games and Sasha won her a teddy bear. They played the arcade games, had snow cones, cotton candy and went to the movies.

At eight thirty, Sasha tucked her in bed and read her a story.

"This was the best day ever." Cindy told her.

"I'm happy you had a great time. We can hang out again like this tomorrow." Sasha replied.

The next day at school; Jimmy and Cindy were walking through the halls with their friends.

Cindy was explaining about the time she had with Sasha. "And then we went to the spa and got pedicures, manicures and massages and then we went to the food court and had chinese food. And then we went to Retroland and my mom won me a teddy bear! And then we went to see 'The Run away Rebels.' You know, that movie I've been telling you about these pass weeks; Libs?"

Libby nodded.

"Well I'm happy things are great with you and your mother now." Jimmy told Cindy.

"I still can't believe it! I can't believe my mom's actually being understanding and nice."

"We still have to work on our project and explain to the class about where we were." He explained.

After school; they were all in Jimmy's lab and he and Cindy explained to them about where they were and what happened.

"So you guys were on that island you got stranded on?" Libby asked surprised.

Cindy nodded. "Uh huh, and we even took some pictures. They would be perfect for our project. We could make a collage."

They all sat on bean bags and watched an action packed movie. Jimmy had made popcorn for everyone and they had candy and purple flurp. Cindy had told Sasha she would be hanging with Jimmy and the others for a few hours and Sasha was cool with it.

Meanwhile in a giant mansion; Eustace was in his room. He was pacing back and forth with his hands in a fist.

He was trying to think of plans to get back at Jimmy and Cindy. He smiled evilly as he suddenly came up with the perfect plan. His evil laughter echoed throughout the mansion.


	14. An out of this world mission

Eustace left his room and told his parents that he was going for a walk. His servant Blix, tagged along. "To my Tripod!" Eustace exclaimed. He got in his Tripod and headed off. He called Sally and told her about his plan.

Cindy left Jimmy's lab and headed for her house. She and Sasha were supposed to go to the skating rink. Cindy smiled; thinking about how better her relationship was with her mother. She was being so understanding and treating her more like a daughter than a possession.

Cindy really enjoyed the time they spent together yesterday. She felt like she truly loved and the spa treatment was one of the best times she had at the mall, along with the pretty dresses, earings and shoes of course.

She knocked on the door but Sasha didn't reply. Cindy waited a few seconds before knocking again. "Mom!" She called. "I'm home!" After glancing around; she turned the knob and to her surprise; the door opened. Sasha must have been busy and decided to leave it open for her because she knew she'd be coming home soon.

Cindy walked inside; calling her mom. The house was awfully quiet. So quiet that it was starting to freak her out. "Mom! Is everything alright?"

There was no answer. After searching her room, Sasha's room and the rest of the house; Cindy went in the backyard, thinking her mother was feeding Humphrey.

"Mom? Humphrey?" She looked in the dog house and he wasn't there. She searched the whole yard, frantically. She was really scared now. Her mother had just vanished, along with Humphrey. This didn't make any sense at all.

Soon she heard a loud noise and gasped as she saw a walking machine in the yard. It was coming towards her. Before she knew it; she was scooped off the ground and was face to face with her captor; Eustace!

"Hello Cynthia."

Sally was next to Eustace, smirking evilly at Cindy before pushing her in the back. Eustace then left the yard; laughing his insane laugh.

"You let me go brie breath!" Cindy told Eustace. "I'm warning you! I know karate! And I'm gonna be getting my black belt in Tae Quan doe this Wednesday!"

Eustace chuckled before getting out of his seat and walking towards her. "You may be able to thrawt us but have you met our assistance?" He snapped his fingers and in an instant; some green creature appeared with an empty tube that was big enough to hold a child.

He picked her up, dropped her inside and closed the lid. She began to bang her fists against the glass but it was no use.

"Meet Martian. One of the most evil species on Mars. I discovered him before I tricked you into joining me." Eustace explained. "I heard him talking to other Martians about finding victims and sucking brains in order to stay alive forever."

"And guess whose brain they're going to be taking first." Sally added.

Eustace took out a remote control and pressed a button. Cindy's mouth dropped and her eyes widened as she saw her mother trapped in a tube. He laughed seeing Cindy's reaction. "That's right. Your poor precious mother. Any comments Cynthia?"

"Eustace you idiot! You do realize that they're going to end up sucking your brain!" She insulted.

"Yes, but the thing is, they only take the brains their master tells them too and I'm the master." He replied. He somehow tricked the martains into thinking he was their master.

She gave him a weird and confused look. "Huh?"

He glanced around real quick and saw Blix preparing some food for Martian. Eustace turned his attention back on Cindy. "Martians are very easy manipulated and foolish creatures." He told her quietly. "They'll believe anything they're told."

"Hate to interrupt you rubbing in Cindy's defeat but I think we should leave for Mars now before anyone sees us." Sally told him.

He sighed. "I suppose your right." He sighed and turned to Blix. "Activate the wings so we can take off."

The tripod's wings activated and took off in the air. "Since a new upgrade was added to this Tripod, we should arrive Mars within a few hours." Eustace announced.

Jimmy entered his house and everything was quiet. Awfully quiet. "Mom? Dad? Is everything alright?"

Nothing but silence.

"I was just hanging with my friends and Cindy."

He went in the kitchen and found another note on the fridge but it wasn't his parents writing.

_'Worried about your parents?_

_Go in your precious lab and a_

_surprise will be waiting on your _

_monitor._

Jimmy just stared at the note for a few more seconds and was puzzled. "Hm, this is strange." His eyes suddenly widened with horror as he thought about something. "Oh no! My parents could have been abducted by aliens again! I gotta get to the lab and quick!"

He left the house and ran back to his lab. Libby, Sheen, Carl and Elke looked concerned seeing him out of breath.

"What is going on?" Libby asked.

"I don't know. My parents aren't home and I found this strange note on my parents refrigerator and it's not their hand writing." Jimmy replied out of breath before showing them the note.

"What surprise?" Elke asked curiously.

"I don't know. Whatever it is. It can't be good. I need to find out who the culprit is." He began to type something on his keyboard until a video popped up.

He saw Eustace in his tripod sitting on his chair like a king and Sally was next to him smirking. "Hello James." Eustace greeted sarcastically.

"Eustace? Sally?" Jimmy asked, figuring out they were apart of this. Jimmy's eyes widened as he saw Cindy trapped in a tube, taping on the glass.

"Cindy?" He turned his attention back on Eustace and Sally. "You guys were behind all of this." He became angry. "What did you do to my parents?" He demanded.

"No need to get snippy with me Neutron. Your parents, along with your friends' parents and your precious Cynthia are contained and unharmed for now. And if you want them to remain that way; you'll do as I say." Eustace replied.

"You stole my parents?" Carl cried out. "What kind of monsters are you! You better give them back!"

"Yeah! Or fear the mighty power and wrath of Ultra Lord!" Sheen exclaimed, holding up his action figure and bringing it closer to the monitor so Eustace can get a clear look of it.

He just scoffed; finding this pathetic. "You don't scare me." He turned his attention back on Jimmy. "Anyway you probably know where we are just by the scenery."

"You're on Mars?" Jimmy asked, taking a good look at the sky and rocks.

"Yes and I assume you'll be coming soon too." Eustace replied knowingly.

Jimmy turned to his friends. "Are you up for a trip to Mars?"

They all nodded seriously and Jimmy turned back to the screen. "We'll be there."

Eustace cackled. "Excellent."

"Hang in there girl! We'll save you!" Libby shouted to Cindy before the screen went blank.

"I just upgraded my space ship so we should arrive Mars in precisely an hour and 53 minutes and twelve seconds." Jimmy explained. "So anyone have to use the bathroom before we go?"

Sheen raised his hands up in the air excitedly. "Ooh I do! I do! Pick me! Pick me!"

Libby shook her head annoyed. "Sheen, put your hands down, we're not in school."

"Wait. What are we going to do after we stop these goons?" Libby asked.

"I don't know. I didn't think about that." Jimmy replied.

"They should definitely be punished!" Elke exclaimed.

"Well we could tell his parents about this." Jimmy said smiling.

They got in the space ship, Jimmy drove to Eustace's mansion and told his parents everything.

"Our son's an evil dictator!" Mr. Strych whined to his wife.

"Don't worry! Once we stop him! He's in big trouble." She replied.

A loud noise was heard and Jimmy checked the gauge. "Oh no! Leaping leptons! Speaking of big trouble! This ship is running out of fuel!"

The ship was starting to shake and the group let out terrified screams. Elke and Carl held onto each other tightly and Sheen was pulling on Libby's shirt. "Whatever happens Libby, promise you'll take good care of my Ultra Lord action figures!"

"Sheen, nothing's gonna-"

"Promise you'll take good care of them!" He yelled.

She covered her ears. "Alright, I promise. Geez."

"Guys if we don't do something pronto; we're gonna be in big trouble." Jimmy informed everyone. "Wait a minute, I think I might have an idea. There might be some elements on the moon that we can use to fill up the gauge meter."

"That means we get to see Brobot again!" Carl exclaimed happily.

"Brobot is fun. He's not so serious and complicated like Jimmy, no offense or anything Jimmy." Sheen said.

"None taken." Jimmy replied, a bit irritated.

They went on the moon and Brobot was excited to see them, especially Jimmy.

"Jimmy! My brother!" Brobot rushed over to his brother and hugged him so tight that he was squeezing him. "It's so good to see you again! What brings you here?"

"Well we're on a mission to rescue Cindy and our parents from these two spoiled tyrants but my space ship is running out of fuel so we stopped here to use some of the elements." Jimmy explained.

"Cool! Can I help! Can I come along too?" Brobot's eyes were filled with excitement.

Jimmy sighed. "Sure, why not?"

"Oh thank you Jimmy! You're the best!"

"So how have you been?" Jimmy asked.

"Great, my parents are the best! They even let me have a dog. I'll show you!" Brobot made a whistling sound. "Roxy, come on out girl! I want you to meet some of my friends!"

"Roxy?" Jimmy asked wondering if it was the same dog he was thinking of.

Roxy appeared and hearts filled Goddard's eyes as he saw her again. It's been a long time. She was happy to see him. She walked over and they licked each other's faces.

"Aw! looks like they like each other!" Brobot playfully teased. "Well I better tell my parents where I'm going. I don't want them to worry." He ran off to tell his parents and came back.

Jimmy found some nice rocks and a few moon rubies. "Well that should do it you guys." He told them.

They all got back in the rocket and headed straight for Mars.

At Mars; Cindy was still trapped in the tube and continued banging on it. "Let me out of here brie breath and Miss. Snot brush Sally! I am going to kick your pathetic butts once I get out of here!"

Eustace smirked. "And how do you plan on doing that?" He asked sarcastically. "It's quite pointless to continue banging. Incase you haven't figured it out, maxi glass is unbreakable."

Cindy let out a frustrated and angry growl and slammed her fists against the glass just to release the anger. "I may be defenseless now but once Jimmy and his friends come, you are so dead!"

"Hm, your precious ninny hammer boyfriend and his pathetic friends won't stop me. And the only way you'll ever be released is if Neutron does whatever Sally says and if you agree to be my date for the dance." Eustace explained.

"You twerps are so desperate and lame." She insulted before folding her arms and letting out a huff.

"You're wrong Vortex, you're the one that's desperate and lame." Sally replied.

Cindy blew a raspberry at her.

"Not so fast you losers!" Jimmy shouted.

Eustace and Sally turned and Eustace's eyes widened as he saw his angry parents. "Mom? Dad?"

"That's right son! You're in big trouble! You too Sally, we're calling your parents." Mr. Stryth told them.

"Blast you!" Eustace shouted, raising his fists in the air. "Blast you fools! Be gone! Good riddance!" He stomped his foot. "I should have captured you goons as well! Curse you, you blasted Neutron!"

"You better let Cindy go!" Jimmy demanded.

"I don't have to listen to you. I'm going to take over the world and be the most powerful eleven year old boy in the galaxy! All I had to do was lie to the pathetic gullible martains!" He put a hand over his mouth realizing what he just said.

Martain glared at him.

"I- I didn't say I lied to you! You uh misheard me!" Eustace lied.

Martain freed Cindy from the tube and released her mom and all the other parents.

"Mom!" Cindy rushed over to Sasha and they hugged.

Carl, Sheen, Elke, Libby and Jimmy hugged their parents.

Martain tied Eustace up and threw him to his parents. "Son, you are grounded till the day you die!" Mrs. Styrth yelled.

"What? You can't ground me till I'm dead!" He yelled.

"We just did son." Mr. Stryth replied.

"Cindy!" Jimmy rushed over to her and they shared a big hug and a quick kiss.

Brobot smiled as he saw this. "Ooh! Jimmy's got a girlfriend! Jimmy's got a girlfriend!"

Jimmy and Cindy blushed like mad.

"Jimmy likes Cindy! Jimmy and Cindy sitting in a tree, k.i.s.s.i.n.g!" Brobot rushed over to Cindy and said something in her ears. "Told you I was programmed for honesty."

She smiled.

"Well we better get going." Jimmy said.

Everyone followed him back to the ship and before taking Brobot back home; they went back to Retrovile and dropped off Eustace, his parents, the other adults and Sally.

Goddard was sad that he had to say goodbye to Roxy again and Jimmy patted his head. "Don't worry Goddard, you could still keep in contact. You guys can video chat on a program I installed in the monitor and maybe you could ask her to the dance."

Goddard barked happily.

After all the drama, everyone was tired and prepared themselves for the next day and Cindy couldn't wait to get her black belt.


End file.
